Positive start
The first two races of the 2024 Formula 1 season have provided confirmations – above all the dominance of Red Bull – and surprises. In this second category, it is worth mentioning for the moment Haas. Fresh from the change of team principal at the beginning of January – with the non-renewal of Gunther Steiner and the Ayao Komatsu promotion to the role of top manager of the team – many predicted that the American team would end up at the bottom of the grid. Instead, after two races Haas has already managed to get into the points thanks to the tenth place achieved in the Saudi Arabian GP by Nico Hulkenberg.
Large margin for growth
The stars and stripes team is the only one to have moved up the rankings among the mid-bottom teams, in a start to the season monopolized by the 'usual' top-5: Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin. The same people who work in the Haas factory in Maranello did not expect to immediately be at the performance level of the various Alpines, Williams, Racing Bulls and Saubers. This is because the package of updates brought between Lusail and Austin during last season, with the aim of straightening out the performance of the VF-23, wasted a lot of time for the development of the 2024 car. The team owned by Gene Haas is de facto months behind from the point of view of the evolution of the car and this paradoxically turns into good news because there is still a lot of room for improvement for the future. The first updates this year should arrive for the Chinese GP and then be constant throughout the championship.
Effective teamwork
But there are also other elements that make the members of the Haas team smile: first of all the excellent team play played by Kevin Magnussen to Jeddah to help Nico Hulkenberg. The Dane understood that the penalties would have destroyed his race anyway and agreed to play a role team players proving to be fundamental in allowing his teammate to maintain tenth position.
A Bearman-branded future
Finally, one cannot fail to underline the extraordinary debut performance from Ollie Bearman, the 18 year old Englishman called at the last moment by Ferrari to replace Carlos Sainz. The Briton, who grew up in the red academy, is – according to radio market rumors – destined to drive on a permanent basis next year for the team made in USA. The latest precedents of rookies in Haas, with the resounding failures of Mazepin and Schumacher, should not excessively influence the team's choices and certainly a 'Jedda-sized' Bearman will be useful to Haas in 2025 on its slow ascent.
#Points #teamwork #and…Bearman #smile #Haas
