Svolta Haas: Da divoratore di pneumatici a monostopper

Motorsport-Total.com) – Although Haas remained point-less for the second time this season at the Suzuka weekend, following the season opener in Bahrain, the world is looking much brighter for the US team in 2024.

On one hand, they have clearly given up the last place: Not only is crisis team Alpine clearly slower, but Sauber and Williams are behind Haas and have yet to score points in the 2024 season – while the Americans already have four points to their name.

Although there was nothing tangible added at the Japan Grand Prix, there was a realization that could be much more valuable for Haas than just scoring points: The tires issue, which had regularly pushed the team far back and out of the points despite promising qualifying performances in the past, seems to have been solved with the new VF24.

The proof: Kevin Magnussen was practically on a one-stop strategy in Suzuka. Practically because all cars lined up in the pit lane after the red flag following the start crash between Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon. However, once the race resumed, Magnussen only made one more stop in lap 22.

Haas surprises themselves

Last year, such a strategy would have been impossible for Haas, especially since Suzuka this year had high tire wear making headlines and posing problems for some teams.

“That was a completely different race compared to last year,” Magnussen is pleased with the improved tire management: “The tire performance is clearly better, and that was very encouraging.” Managing to conserve tires for a longer period, something that was not feasible for Haas drivers in the past: “Last year? No way!”, confirms the Dane.

According to Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, this development is a big surprise for the team itself: “Based on the practice runs, we couldn’t have dreamed of this. Our long-run pace was terrible,” the Japanese reveals. “The tire degradation was high, Kevin was unhappy with the car. That wasn’t great, but the boys’ reaction was great: We improved the setup for qualifying.”

As his driver was essentially driving with a new car in terms of setup, Komatsu more or less gives him a free pass for missing out on Q2. “In the race, he was satisfied with the car’s consistency. That’s positive, but ideally, we should have achieved that by Friday.”

Magnussen lamented another issue, the early race interruption: “It was a bit unfortunate for me. The red flag helped some others with the tires we had because they could change tires and switch to a one-stop strategy from hard to hard from there,” explains the Dane, who stayed on his medium tires for the first stint: “That was difficult, so I had to stop early for the second stint on the hard tire.”

Box stop costs Magnussen time

Considering he finished 13th, two places behind teammate Nico Hülkenberg, Magnussen can live with this outcome, especially since his only real pit stop of the day was somewhat slow. “Unfortunately, the stop was rather slow,” says Magnussen, who was fighting with Bottas, Tsunoda, Stroll, and Sargeant at that time.

When the Sauber driver came in for a pit stop, Haas reacted accordingly: “It was a very late decision,” explains Team Principal Komatsu. “We wanted to stop in the same lap, not one lap later. They called him in and we reacted, but in a very short timeframe. And since we had the first garage in the pit lane this time, it was basically the worst of both worlds. That’s why the guys weren’t ready,” Komatsu justifies the time loss.

Even though he ended up ahead of Bottas, the Alpines, and Sargeant “despite the disadvantaged strategy,” Magnussen is satisfied – and takes another positive realization from Suzuka, including a slight jab at the competition: “We are very fast on the straights and in slow corners. So it’s difficult to overtake us, as Bottas can confirm.”

Racing Bulls are still too fast for Haas

However, Haas currently cannot keep up with a team in the midfield on their own: the Racing Bulls. “The AlphaTauri,” as Magnussen still calls them, “is fast, faster than us at the moment. At least on the tracks we have been on recently, Melbourne and here. Hopefully, they will struggle more in the next races.”

The Dane hopes: “On tracks that suit us better, and with a few upgrades to the car, hopefully we can give them a run, the Alph… whatever the hell they’re called now!”

Team Principal Komatsu remains calm: “Suzuka is a track that highlights the weaknesses of our car,” he believes and looks ahead: “We will try to bring more aggressive new parts to future races. They should bring more performance to the car and make the whole thing better.”

So that Magnussen and Hülkenberg can finally target Komatsu’s compatriot Tsunoda, who narrowly prevented Haas from scoring points in Suzuka as 10th.