F1 | Magnussen: “No false optimism, but it's a long game”

For Haas, 2024 represents a year of profound changes, on the one hand due to the promotion of Ayao Komatsu to replace Gunther Steiner, who left the American team at the end of 2023, and partly due to the transition to a concept that strongly recalls the concept Red Bull who inspired many teams.

Komatsu is aware that a change in philosophy is not enough to solve the problems of 2023, which is why it suggested keeping expectations low, aware of the challenges that await the team at the start of the championship, where it will have to understand how to make the most of the new car.

From this point of view, the riders are also aware that moving up the rankings will not be easy, which is why there is no room for false ambitions. There is no easy enthusiasm at the moment, as highlighted by Kevin Magnussen.

Having worked with Komatsu since joining the team in 2017, Magnussen already has a good relationship with the new Team Principal and highlighted how the reshuffle represented a big change at Haas which will influence the “dynamics and communication in the whole stable.”

After a difficult 2023 season, which saw Haas finish last place in the world championship, Magnussen admitted there is no reason to expect immediate improvement: “Expectations have been managed quite well this year. I think in some years there has been unrealistic optimism in view of the season and I too have suffered from it.”

“Ayao is very clear that he doesn't think we're out of last year's position yet, but he's clear that he sees the development trajectory as being better, so he's really optimistic that we can move forward this year. whole grid is so tight and I think last year we hit a wall in terms of development. We couldn't break that barrier until we changed the concept, and this year it looks much better. Expectations are low at the beginning, but high for the entire season”, added the Dane, underlining how the game will be played in the long run, especially in terms of developments, where some changes made in the winter have increased confidence on this front, despite Haas has never shone from this point of view in the past.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Haas F1 Team

“We started working on this year's car quite late, so we had little time to develop it, and it's actually going quite well. Although I don't think we can guarantee it will be a step forward straight away in Bahrain at the first race, I think that the development at least seems more interesting.”

Magnussen struggled to adapt to the VF-23 last year. Already at the beginning of the season the Dane had noted some problems in extracting the maximum from the car, especially in qualifying, an aspect where his teammate had achieved some outstanding results, guaranteeing top ten positions for Haas. In the second half of the championship, however, a single-seater with a revised concept arrived which, although it did not completely eliminate the limitations of the old car, contributed to modifying some of its behaviour, which also brought it closer to Magnussen's style. It is no coincidence that for the last few races, while his teammate then chose to return to the old specification, the Dane instead decided to stay with the new concept, even if it guaranteed less overall aerodynamic load.

Haas has spent the winter trying to resolve the problems it faced last year and new Team Principal Komatsu believes Magnussen should see some tangible improvements where he could feel more confident in the car. The Dane also has the same hope, underlining how, although the VF-23 had some advantages in terms of grip generated, on the other hand it also had characteristics that made it unstable, especially when entering and navigating corners.

“I think the car we started the season with – before race 19, when we brought the upgrade package – had good grip, the peak grip was nice, but it was very unstable and inconsistent. It's something I have struggled a bit. I like the front to be at least stable, so that I can manage oversteer or understeer.”

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Haas F1 Team

“It's not that I have any preferences, it's the lack of stability and the inconsistency, especially when entering corners, that's where I try to make the difference to make the car rotate while I'm still busy with the brakes. Austin's car helped me a lot. It wasn't a huge step, but it was a step in the right direction and I hope it's an even bigger step this year,” Magnussen added.

Teammate Nico Hulkenberg has spent less time working with Komatsu, having joined Haas in 2023, but the German agrees that the new technical orientation will be different.

“My relationship with Ayao is good. Obviously last year I worked closely with him throughout the season. I think there is a big change from this point of view, but it's interesting. There are other teams that have done a similar thing, putting technicians in the role of team principal, and this worked quite well for other teams”, explained Hulkenberg, who had actually already met Komatsu during a seat fitting during his time at Lotus.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Haas F1 Team

The hope is that the car could prove to be a step forward compared to the VF-23, which clearly also had to deal with some design limitations, given that the chassis of the single-seater was designed for another concept. The moment Haas decided to opt for a change in philosophy, like Ferrari itself, those constraints became even more evident limits.

“We hope that the car is a little better given the limits we found last year. It's natural that we want to do better than the previous year, it's normal. Last year we had a difficult year, so we absolutely want to improve , especially with regards to the weaknesses encountered in the race. I saw the new car, it seems better, it's an evolution. We managed to fix some things, but at this point of the year, like every year, we're a bit at a loss “We're not sure where we are and where we're going to end up, so we just have to keep our heads down, keep working hard and stay focused,” added the German.

“My goal is to have fun, to enjoy the season and to maintain the feeling of positivity that I have inside me, because this brings out the best in me and allows me to give my best. From a sporting point of view we obviously want to improve compared to last year, to do better. Last year we had many good qualifying sessions, but I think this year the objective is to try to translate everything into the race as well.”