Much has been made of Haas F1’s sudden and dramatic improvement in form during the two winter test sessions in Barcelona which seemed to not only carry through but improve even more in Melbourne last month.
While many commentators have been citing the close relationship between Haas and their engine suppliers Ferrari as the primary reason why the American team has suddenly found form, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen has now offered another explanation; one not nearly as controversial as the Ferrari connection…
"We have obviously got a few more people, people that are joining the team and the number of employees in Haas F1 is just growing," Magnussen is quoted by Racer. "I think we're not rushing to it. We're getting good people in the right areas. So we are improving in terms of understanding the tires, and especially improving in terms of [chassis production].
And it seems that it’s not just the new hires at Haas' HQ in Kannapolis but also the input of their chassis supply partner in Italy, Dallara.
"Our team is not only the guys here, it's also in Dallara that's part of our team as well. They are a very crucial part of the team and they've stepped up as well this year. When you look at the car, you look at the quality of the parts that they have on the car, they look much better this year and more clean and better quality. That's very, very important.
"That improvement they've made means a lot, because we can design a car in the CFD with a computer and then we hope that's working in testing and in the wind tunnel. But if we don't get an actual car that is what we meant it to be then it's no good. So their role is extremely important and they've stepped up this year as well.
"So they've done a really good job on their side, hopefully they will continue to grow because they're growing as well. It's good for their business as well being involved in this project. I'm sure they're improving not only our Formula 1 car but on their cars as well."
The Dane also cites that some of his own improvement is also down to the fact that he is now settled with the team and that his, and team-mate Romain Grosjean’s, Australian pace is not really a surprise to him.
"Yeah it's good being the second year with the same team. Not only same team, but also the same people on my team. Same race engineer, same performance engineer, same data engineer. Everyone is the same so I know everyone, we know each other well.
"It's nice showing up on the track on Wednesday and seeing analysis from [the same] track last year. I am not used to that, I've never had that before. Showing up and having an analysis from the previous race we did is useful."
As to whether the team can continue to show this type of pace will come down to how they perform in Bahrain this weekend but if they can repeat this form, they will clearly be the team coming out of the midfield to challenge the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull!
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