Tag: romain

2019 British Grand Prix

Romain Grosjean started the British Grand Prix in the 14th starting position, Kevin Magnussen the 16th.

At the end of lap 1… Magnussen 4 running 20th by the end of the first lap. The two Haas cars touche on the first lap, and they punctured each other rear tire. Magnussen was blue flagged on lap 3, he retired from the race on lap 8.

Romain Grosjean dropped 5 positions by the end of the first lap of the race. He was running 19th, of the 20 car field. Grosjean was lapped by the Mercedes Silver Arrows on lap 9. He retired from the race on lap 12.

Note* It was on lap 31 that the Sky F1 reporters decided to tell the “American audience” that Grosjean retired due to a lack of down force, and Magnussen a vibration.

The Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi spun out on lap 21. Lewis Hamilton was the first into and out of the pits, and with a new set of hard tires. Enough to take him to the end of thee race. Because of the safety car, and the position of the field at the time of the safety car, Hamilton was able to pit and reemerge back into first place. He would not have been able to do this under normal racing conditions, but the reduced speeds of his competitors from the safety car, the expanded approach time was enough to keep him in first place.

Lewis Hamilton won his 6th British Grand Prix. With 10 laps remaining, there were calls from the Mercedes pit were for Hamilton to pit for new tires. A defiant Hamilton finished the race on those same hard tires. His teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second, and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc would take the third step.

For Haas… they will regroup. The German Grand Prix is in two weeks; July 28th.

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race Review

The 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix is in the books for the Haas F1 Team…. and that is a good place for it. After a few days of scheduled testing this week the team will all go home and take their FIA mandated vacations.

Performance for all three practice sessions for the Grand Prix weekend were uninspiring. Romain Grosjean achieved the best practice result and placed 15th in the third practice. Grosjean also qualified 15th for the race while Kevin Magnussen qualified 16th.

It was a good race. Daniel Riccardo was side swiped buy his team mate Max Verstappen on the very first lap. A radiator on Riccardo’s car was damaged and coolant was expressed on the car and track; his Redbull was broken, by another Redbull. Riccardo was pissed and beside himself to find restraint in the interview which followed immediately after returning to the paddock. It was the first “first lap” retirement of his career according to the NBC broadcast.

On lap 21 Magnussen was running 13th and Grosjean 16th when Haas race control informed Grosjean that he had “low tire pressure on the left front”.. his response… “wonderful”. Grosjean pits and all seems right with the broadcast. Just as Leigh Diffy mentions that it “has not been a good weekend for Haas”, Roman Grosjean was instructed to “stop the car”…

…and the Haas VR17 drops a big turd on the track. It really stunk up the place…

It was not a pretty sight. They crossed a wheel nut on one of the new wheels, and released the car…. The crew member on the right rear of the car has his arms crosses in the universal marshaling language of STOP, as the car drove away! Hindsight being what it is, and as fans, we’re better off not getting into the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s of what happened…. Shit happens! Lap 21 and the number 8 car of Grosjean is out while the number 20 car of Kevin Magnussen was running in 13th .

While the Haas team held a debrief of the debacle, the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen lead the race 1 -2 respectively. They finish the race in the same order. And with that win Vettel (202 points) established a 24 point gap between himself and Lewis Hamilton (188 points) of Mercedes, for the drivers construction.

Lewis Hamilton finished 4th. On lap 47 The Mercedes Team issued orders for Valtteri Bottas to relinquish his position. Hamilton was running strong and the team he was running fast enough to fight ahead with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.  I’ll spare the details, but Lewis could not catch Kimi… Lewis Hamilton relinquished 3 championship points when he filed in behind Bottas on the last turn of the last lap and handed the third podium position back to Valtteri Bottas. It happened at the very last moment before crossing the finish line.

But from every race, we look for a take away. And for the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix we found one, and we have Kevin Magnussen to thank for it. KMags delivered an 11th place finish., though the official race results placed Magnussen at 13th place. Magnussen received 2 points against his F1 Superlicense and a 5 second penalty for a race incident involving German driver Nico Hulkenberg.  Those 5 seconds cost him two positions on the result from 11th to 13th.

On lap 61 Magnussen forced Hulkenberg wide as the German tried to execute a pass on the outside. Magnussen defended and faded to the right as the Renault of Hulkenberg tried to pass Magnussen on a bending left sweeping turn.  Magnussen made what can be classified as a blocking move, and the yellow Renault was eating dust… I digress…

The 5 second penalty cost the team 2 meaningless positions on the final result. Magnussen received a 2 point penalty on his license. But Nico Hulkenberg was not happy.  Nico Hulkenberg called Magnussen “the most unsporting driver”… Haas F1 Team boss Gunther Steiner came to his drivers defense calling Hulkenberg “a bully”.  But Magnussen’s response to Hulkenberg was cataclysmic in its impact… and an all timer!

Kevin Magnussen told Nico Hulkenberg to “suck my balls honey”…

Aside from delivering social media gold to the F1 world… KMags set a no prisoners mentality.  Nothing brings a team together better than a common enemy… a chip they can carry around over their vacation break.

From a racing perspective, the race was meaningless. The Haas Team is in 7th place for the constructors championship with 29 points. Renault is behind them in 8th with 26 points. Last year the team finished the season with 29 points, so They’ve scored level with last years totals, and we still have the entire second half of the season ahead of us.

But here we are in the second year for the American team. They are leading Renault. Renault built it’s first purpose built race car in 1907, The Racing Roadster. That car went on to win the first ever race called a “Grand Prix”.

So the Haas F1 Team will enter their sophomore summer break amidst a bit of controversy.  Kevin Magnussen is telling the competition to “suckmyballshoney” and the Haas fans love it. The @HaasF1Fans twitter feed was alive with some “Vikings” ready to jump in on the fight. That is a clan I will not mess with, and that is the message that The Haas F1 Team is sending…

So enjoy your break from F1 everyone. Look for HaasF1Fans on Facebook and twitter.

2016 Italian Grand Prix – Pre Race

Esteban Gutiérrez has qualified 10th for the 2016 Italian Grand Prix. He is the first driver to take a Haas F1 car into the third qualifying round for any race.

The team rolled out a special wing for the Italian Grand Prix.  The leading edge of the wing is shaped in the form of a “W”.

Mercedes is utilizing a wing with a leading edge shaped like an elongated V. But the Haas design doubles this form factor in a waving fashion.  Visually the two wings look different from the standard flat plank the Haas team and most others run. But what is the advantage of the wave in the wing? How does this help the car go faster? Does it provide more or less downforce then a standard wing? These are the many questions I was asking, and not a single NBC analyst dared to tackle the design impact, including Steve Matchette. I was disappointed.

The new wing on the Haas F1 car has two intended purposes; greater downforce and better stability in high speed turns. Down force is not the only application of Bernoulli’s principle at work here, and not what Haas and AMG Mercedes are chasing with their designs.

Building curves into the wing effectively makes it longer. Just as a shoe lace looks shorter while in the package, it stretches out when you unwind it. In the same way both Haas and Mercedes have done this. Adding a second wing is an alternate approach to lengthening the wing. So why the wave? Wouldn’t a wave   increase the drag? Well yes is does to an extent. And it creates vertical down force. But the teams are chasing another aeronautical dynamic, the vertical component of lift.

The vertical component of lift is what allows air planes to turn. Ailerons on the wings is how the pilot controls this force, along with their rudder and elevator. As the pilot turns his wheel to the left, the aileron on the right drops down, which causes the wing to go up. The lift which raises the plane can be directed sideways and cause the plane to turn. To assist in turning an airplane, some wings are not flat but have an upward bend built into it, or dihedral. Remember that a race car wing is like an airplane wing, but upside down . So the AMG Mercedes uses a single bend inverted design or dihedral. The Haas wing has 2 bends on each side, polyhedral.

So as the Haas and AMG Mercedes cars are driving in a straight line there are downward forces coming off of the wing, perpendicular to the wing surface. The AMG Mercedes wing spreads it’s down force in the shape of an umbrella. The downward forces on the Haas wing spread in an even more lateral or sideways direction. As the car enters a turn the down forces on the back of the car will become asymmetrical. The vertical component of lift can be used to help get the car around the corner. I suspect that these aerodynamics are only beneficial at high speeds. So at a track with high speed turns, like Monza, the benefits can be realized. On a slower track the beneficial vertical down force may be negligible and drag inducing. It would require a conversation with the design team to fully understand the aerodynamic nuances… wouldn’t that be cool! I digress…

So the new Haas wing is exciting. The car is faster and lookes very stable…

From the beginning I’ve been touting the reliability of the Haas Team… reliability… race craft… over and over. Well today Esteban Gutierrez essentially addressed my point in an interview with Will Buxton, and i paraphrase, ” since we’ve been consistent we’ve then been able to focus on things that will help us”. The reliability s paying off. After all of those 11th place finishes, he has broken into the top 10.

Grosjean qualified 12th but will start 17th due to a 5 place penalty for his transmission swap. Yes I call it a transmission, not a gearbox. My 5 speed Honda Accord has a gearbox!

Again it comes down to the start. Esteban and Romain have both had good starts and escaped turn 1 unscathed. Let’s believe the same is going to happen. Dare I say they could have not one but two cars in points? I believe Esteban Gutierrez will score his first points for Haas F1. And if Grosjean can manage his tires, I believe he can move up. Points are not out of the question for both drivers. The car’s were especially fast in qualifying. The Team did not post a time for Gutierrez until the very end of Q3, which concerned me. But I believe they were conceding the effort. P10 puts him on the outside of the track and a safer vantage point into turn 1. It was a safe play…

Can the team maintain it’s advantage throughout the race? Have the Haas cars improved? It sure looks like it. A single mistake by a competitor could make the difference. The Haas Team has not made any significant mistakes on race day. This is going to be an exciting and fast race.

Go Haas F1 Team!!!!

It’s Monza… and the Americans are in the house!!!

 

 

 

2016 Belgian Grand Prix – Pre Race

Half time is over… The kickoff to Formula 1’s second half is just hours away. We’ve all had time to eat a meatball sandwich, use the facilities, catch a smoke, even run out for more beer.  Kickoff is officially at 8 AM EST August 28th, tomorrow morning, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The Haas F1 Team has not failed to disappoint at any point of its development. The team is fairly well seated in the F1 constructors championship in 8th position with 28 points. They follow McLaren who holds 42 points and leads Renault in 9th position with 6 points. McLaren and Honda are not relenting to develop their engine for this year. They are in a points battle with Toro Rosso who only leads McLaren by 3 points, with 45.   So it was not surprising to learn that the Haas team will commit all new development activities to the car they will campaign for the 2017 season. As the emphasis on the teams opportunities fade, an opportunity for the drivers emerges. They can define a meaningful purpose to the racing… now it’s personal!!!

The 5 position grid penalty on Esteban Gutierrez can be seen in two ways. As Tevye (Father character in “Fiddler On The Roof”) would say… in his deep baritone voice…

On one hand, he is a good boy! He does not break my car, too much. He does not earned his keep but,  he also has finished 11th place… 4 times! He does not embarrass me! I sell lots of hats in Mexico, and I like him. He’s a good boy!

On the other hand… I’m not so sure. The accident in Australia, Alonso could have been killed.  Now a 5 spot penalty… for what.. forgetting you are in a race car, on a race track, and there are other cars? We shall see…

But on the other hand… he has been doing better than my other boy… but still no points…

Starting from 18th position may be too difficult for Gutierrez to over come. Even if he can pick up a few positions at the start, it seems that points are an unrealistic expectation for him. I sure hope I’m wrong. and I might be.

Drivers are complaining that Pirelli’s tire pressure requirements are too stringent. Many feel it is making the tires too hard, resulting in higher temperatures and premature degradation. In this motorsport article, Jensen Button explains his frustrations with the tires. It’s worth reading, but not me repeating! 🙂

But the tire pressure could play into Haas’s hands. Now I admit my logic may be a bit loosely fitted, but all indicators are in the teams favor. In a fantastically written article on the Haas F1 Team web site, Romain Grosjean says this,

“The car was fine in qualifying. We made a good step before the summer break, so I’m more happy with the car. There are still a few things we can improve but, generally, it’s not a bad place to be after qualifying. For the race, I don’t think we’ll be as challenged as some of the other teams. Hopefully, we can have a good, aggressive strategy and try to make it work to get some points.”

Romain does not tell us what their advantage is, but they definitely must feel that they have one. Execution of their strategy will need to be perfect for the team to over perform. The combined design and execution of the race strategy could significantly improve the Haas Team’s performance, and it’s their greatest strength.

At the beginning the 2016 season the Haas team had no experience with their new car. The team had never worked together. Their front wing was shit and Esteban could not find the bathroom. Yet Haas F1 scored in three of their first 4 races. Perhaps I’m beating a dead horse, but Gene Haas bring race craft! It does not matter if he’s racing Chevy modifieds on a  dirt track, wrenching on Indy cars, or writing history in the NASCAR record books, he knows what he’s doing.

If ever there was an opportunity to win a race on strategy and execution, it will be the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.

Both Romain’s and Esteban’s primary purpose, in life tomorrow, is to get a great race start and through turn 1 unscathed. The unscathed part is the most important thing. Jumping ahead then having to pit is not really jumping ahead… so… you listening Esteban? For Esteban this race is a bit of a trial. For Romain, an opportunity.

Romain Grosjean is starting in 11th position. The Haas car does not have the giddy up to run with Williams or Force India. And as mentioned before, the McLaren will only get faster. Attrition at the front of the pack never hurt the feelings of the mid pack contenders, and if that happens Romain will be the first to benefit.

No one has any idea how the race will play out. We’ve seen similar tire life expectancies from both the medium ands and soft tire compounds. But the Ardennes is taking its tole. The heat is tearing and blistering the tires in rates disproportionate to previous races. In that gap is where the fortunes lie for the Haas F1 team. An opportunity will present itself and they will be ready!

I do believe that Romain Grosjean will score points.  Esteban, 11th position? For the 5th time? Seems reasonable.

and on a personal note…
“If I were a rich man”… twitter follower @EauRouger  would we watching this race from La Source. Keep fighting Chester!

 

2016 Russian Grand Prix – Post Race Wrap

Again, the Haas F1 Team delivers. Both cars finished the race and Grosjean landed in 8th. My expectations were exceeded by the team scoring points. But I think we are going to get used to this real quick and the bar will continue to notch up.

The race review I am about to write seems like a repetition to my pre-race analysis, because my pre-race analysis was consistent with what happened.  Since it’s a journal I can say things like that. So…

Turn 1 was a bottleneck, Vettel was knocked out going into turn 2 by Kvyat . Grosjean was off with a jack rabbit start and in a safe position from the turn 1 contacts. Gutierrez found himself in trouble with the Force India car of Nico Hulkenberg and was forced to change his nose when the smoke cleared. Under Caution Gutierrez did not seem to  lose much track position, but in the end he did not gain any either.

Grosjean’s performance, on the other hand, must be bringing the attention from other teams. I give my driver of the day to Jan Magnussen because he did the most with the least. But Romain carried the mail for Haas today.

The Mercedes powered cars were the biggest threat to Haas. The Williams and Force India’s are the teams Haas seems to possibly be on par with.   The Force India of Sergio Perez was on the tail of Grosjean for nearly the entire second half of the race, and the Haas car provided the necessary performance for Grosjean to fight. In all but the Chinese Grand Prix are we seeing that Grosjean’s Haas is in the mix, and winning their battles.

On the other hand, the 21 car is not matching the 8. As Guiterrez settles into the car he will improve.  But the driver selection was based on blind expectations, and an apparent obligation to escalate the Ferrari reserve driver. Was this an out for Ferrari? A courtesy for Haas? We have a long season ahead of us, and a proper evaluation can only be performed after the season. But in the heat of battle it is easy to get over zealous in our evaluations.  But at some point the delta between the two drivers will be  evaluated and it’s impossible to avoid the subject.

Grosjean definitely got the jump on Guitteries when they went green. That put Grosjean into a better position and ahead, and allowed him to emerge unscathed from turn 1. Again,in the pre-race review I mentioned to watch the difference between their two starts. But Grosjean seems to be a master of starting, and that is a trait he brings at Lotus. But Gutierrez was lined up next

Based on the 2014 performance payout schedule, the fifth place team was Williams and  received $83 million dollars in FIA award payouts in 2015.  That is where Haas is on pace to finish.  for a team that is rumored to be operating in the $100 million range, the team could make  profit if they sell enough hats. … But seriously,  the team appears to be in a strong financial position as a result of their performance. Gene Haas was quoted somewhere as saying that paraphrase: Grosjean has already paid for himself.

So a great result. And again, I apologize to @RenaultSportF1  for a tweet comment.  It was made in the “esprit de l’occasion”.

Bring on Barcelona!