Haas finishes in the points with both cars: Do Nico Hülkenberg and co land on the hard ground in fast Suzuka?
Haas has more than succeeded at the start of the season: To the surprise of many, Nico Hülkenberg finished in the points in both Saudi Arabia and Australia, and teammate Kevin Magnussen did the same in Melbourne. The serious problems from the previous year, with weak race pace and, above all, excessive tire wear, have apparently been remedied by the US team.
However, the question remains as to how long Haas’ form will last this time – or whether the small racing team will once again slump, as is almost traditional, when the competition pulls away with updates over the course of the season?
Despite the positive start to his tenure, new team boss Ayao Komatsu is keen to dampen expectations, and the Japanese driver is not revising his target of eighth place in the constructors’ championship upwards for the time being: “I think that’s still a challenging target,” says Komatsu.
“If you look at our competitiveness, okay, we’re currently seventh in the championship,” says the team boss, referring to the recent strong results. “But if you look at our race pace, we’re eighth or ninth. And now, of course, the development race begins, although everyone knows that we are the smallest team. Eighth place is still a big challenge for me, so we have to stay grounded and realistic. “
Haas faces a difficult weekend in Japan
The first impressions in Suzuka support the team principal’s assessment: “It’s as expected: We have problems here in sector one because it’s a passage with a lot of very fast corners.” These do not suit the Haas VF-24, as Nico Hülkenberg also realized after practice: “That looked difficult. But we knew from the start of the year that we would struggle there and that we still lack grip and downforce.”
Of course, the team reacted with set-up changes on both cars on Friday, but the evaluation of these literally fell through in the second practice session. “It was not wet, not dry, really the worst conditions for a Formula 1 car and for motorsport,” says Hülkenberg.
However, the German doesn’t want to let this spoil his mood, because at least something is happening at Haas compared to the last Suzuka appearance just six months ago: “It’s definitely quite different in some areas, but similar in others of course. But I think we’re certainly getting a good picture here, a direction and context for the rest of the season as to what we need to do in terms of development to get better.”
While Hülkenberg at least finished the first practice session in 13th place, his team-mate Magnussen did not make it past 19th and penultimate place. “I don’t really know where we stand as a team. I didn’t get any good laps on my side,” says the Dane, who is struggling with too much understeer: “But don’t stress. I assume that we are roughly where we were in the last few races. “
