The Haas F1 Team and Romain Grosjean finish an incredible 5th place in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Expectations for the team were still measured by the teams skeptics after Grosjean’s 6th place in Australia was partially attributed to a timely pit under yellow flag caution conditions.
The team performed as expected in qualifying for Bahrain. Bringing both cars into Q2 for qualifying on a consistent basis will demonstrate a capacity for consistency, reliability and a true competitive benchmark. But it was the overall competitiveness of the car and the race strategy which provided Grosjean the horses to run towards the front of the pack all day. The Haas race strategy was aggressive. They pushed on super soft tires for as long as they could before switching to the required change to in this case, softs. Like Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean has demonstrated the distinct ability to be gentle on tires when he needs to. Somehow he managed to push aggressively on the super softs without loosing grip or pace.
Because of Grosjean’s “timely pit under caution” in Australia the first race pit stop for the Haas F1 Team occured in Bahrain; 3.2 seconds. That is a fantastic time and clearly attributed to the fifth place finish. Gene Haas seems to have a sense of discipline among his teams culture. So far everything Haas as done can be described as precise. Precision is the business that Gene Haas is in. CNC machines are perhaps the single most concrete example of manifested precision and is central to any form of precision manufacturing. Elon Musk may run Space-X and be the check writer, but he’s not designing anything. But Haas manifests real-world precision in the first person. And by the end of the 2016 season the Haas Crew chief will have the pit crew performing to Maranello standards. No doubt!
Esteban Gutiérrez met early disappointment with brake issues in lap 47, I think 10 laps into the race. Following the harrowing crash with Alonso in Australia, we know Esteban had higher hopes for Bahrain. But that ugly gremlin stick got a good look at his car. I cannot say that the gremlin stick jumped into Esteban Gutiérrez’s car, clearly that distinction belongs to Vettel’s Ferrari. Gutiérrez had to retire due to a brake issue. But I am not at all disappointed in him or the car. He is seeing the rash side of the team luck, but consider it his role as the #2, and fate is accommodating. I have high expectations for Gutiérrez in China.
But my optimism for the team cannot be under stated. Every team holds their breath at the start of every Formula 1 season. Cars do not generally improve too much over the course of a season. If the car is not fast at the start of the season, chances are you’re not moving up. Well the Haas car is fast. In only their second race they’ve moved up. Yes we must temper our enthusiasm… oh wait, no we don’t! This statement from Romain Grosjean psyches me up to no end…
“This is the American dream,” said Grosjean. “It is unbelievable. I said we had to manage our expectations after we finished sixth in Australia, but here we finished fifth. There’s still a lot of things we can do better, from pit stops to the setup of the car and so on but, for now, this one is for the guys. I looked at their faces last night and they were all very tired because of the amount of work we’re doing. This is a massive reward. Really, just unbelievable. In the race, I had a good feeling in the car. It was an aggressive strategy, but managing tires has always been my strength in the past. Knowing we had a softer compound for this racetrack was something I liked. The car was set up well for the supersoft tires and I had a fantastic race. The car has a very good baseline. Everything is working well. I don’t think I’ve ever been as high as fifth in the driver standings. This is the first time in my career, I can’t believe it.”
Romain Grosjean leads Sebastian Vettel in the Formula 1 drivers championship! Of the 23 drivers on the F1 grid, Grosjean is currently in 5th place. The Haas F1 Team is also in 5th place among the 11 constructors, behind Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams; making Haas the current leader of the mid-pack teams. I’ll take it!
On to China! It will be difficult to temper expectations. But Esteban Gutiérrez has not yet completed a race. Once Haas reliability improves Williams will be nervous!
