What Haas driver Kevin Magnussen expects from the new VF-24 and what exactly the Austin update in the 2023 Formula 1 season will bring for the 2024 season
Kevin Magnussen is confident about the 2024 Formula 1 season. And there is a reason for this: the Danish racing driver refers to Haas’ Austin update from the 2023 season and the fact that his team gained important insights from it.
However, Magnussen does not want to talk about an update in retrospect, “more of an experiment”, because the car’s performance did not actually develop “upwards, but only sideways” as a result. His Haas team-mate Nico Hülkenberg even upgraded back to the previous specification after Austin.
Magnussen, on the other hand, was already impressed by the changes to the car back then, and he still is: “It’s now about seeing the potential and characteristics of this concept on the track,” he explains.
Progress is probably not evident right from the start
However, there is a catch: Haas only gained important insights for the VF-24 late on due to the late deployment of the Austin update. Magnussen confirms this when he says: “We didn’t commit to this year’s car until quite late in the development process. We therefore had very little time to develop it.” However, the development “actually went quite well”, he says.
Just like Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, Magnussen warns against high expectations of his team: Haas “cannot guarantee that there will be a step forward in the first race in Bahrain”, but will probably be further down the grid. What makes Magnussen optimistic, however, is “that the development at least looks more interesting.”
What Magnussen needs from his car
He himself is specifically hoping for a predictable car, unlike the VF-23, which was “very unstable and inconsistent”. “That’s something I struggled with a bit,” says Magnussen. “I want the front to at least be consistent so I can deal with oversteer or understeer.”
“It’s not that I have a preference. It’s the inconsistency, especially late on corner entry, where I have to concentrate on turning the car in and staying on the brakes,” he explains.
“The car from Austin has helped me a lot. It wasn’t a big step, but it was a step in the right direction and I hope it’s an even bigger step in that direction this year. “