The limitations of Haas’s economic model, second to last in the championship

After an excellent 2018 campaign that was nevertheless marred by some mistakes, Haas was expected to be a force to watch in F1. Unfortunately for the American team, things turned out to be much more complicated, despite a promising start to the season. Indeed, Magnussen managed to secure 6th place at the Australian Grand Prix, just behind the drivers from the top teams. Eight more points were then scored in Spain and Monaco. But since then, nothing. Haas is quietly slipping towards the back of the grid and it’s no longer uncommon to see the black and gold cars forced to battle with Williams. Notably in Austria where Kevin Magnussen finished the race in 19th place, behind George Russell.

This weekend at the British Grand Prix, the team tried to revise its approach by using the car as it appeared in Australia during the first Grand Prix of the season. Romain Grosjean used this chassis while Kevin Magnussen had the latest chassis with the latest developments. The American team’s concerns proved justified as Romain Grosjean’s chassis performed better in qualifying. This challenges an entire development strategy.

The evolution of Haas in the championship since its arrival in Formula 1:

The blame cannot be placed on the Ferrari power unit, which according to evaluations is currently considered a benchmark in terms of engine performance. The VF19 chassis is not fundamentally bad but is almost impossible to develop. Designed by Dallara and enhanced with some parts from Ferrari, Haas finds itself in the unknown when it comes to tuning the elements from these different suppliers. A very embarrassing situation for the American team, preventing it from progressing in the development race.

In addition to this impasse related to the design of the single-seater, Haas’s title sponsor, Rich Energy, does not seem very reliable, and one could easily question its interest in Formula 1. A brand of non-alcoholic energy drinks, the small black cans are nowhere to be found in France. The scarcity of the product is strange, especially for such an important partnership with a Formula 1 team. The British company has also been recently accused of copying the logo of another brand, Whyte Bikes.

Kevin Magnussen did not hesitate to paint a pessimistic picture of his team: “It was very disappointing and I think it’s because we had very high expectations for this year,” the Dane regrets. Since the beginning of winter, the car felt very good and looked very competitive. Furthermore, in several races, we had a great car in qualifying and easily qualified as the best of the rest, but we struggled a lot in the race.

Le classement des constructeurs après le Grand Prix de Formule 1 d’Angleterre /f1/actualite/23444-imbroglio-entre-haas-et-rich-energy.html: