Mid-season review: Haas done very well

Motorsport Week resumes its team-by-team mid-season review with Haas, which has vaulted up the order in only its third year of competition in Formula 1.

The overhauled regulations meant Formula 1’s newest, and potentially smallest, entrant had to create two distinctly different cars in its first two years – and so opting for evolution over revolution was a smart tactic. That rivals pre-season began questioning Haas using the regulations to its advantage in terms of its alignment with Ferrari and Dallara acted as a testament to the respective parties contributing strongly to the VF-18. Haas has been a contender for points at nearly every Grand Prix and has developed strongly (a weakness last year ostensibly on account of its early focus on 2018), particularly on slow-speed corners, having been off the pace in Monaco. Operationally the relative youth of the team means it has been more susceptible to missing opportunities, and should probably hold fourth in the standings, having been hurt badly by its wheel nut issues in Australia and Romain Grosjean’s twitchy right foot. That it can still realistically aim for the position demonstrates the year-on-year gains it has made; few teams this young have ever finished this high in the standings. 

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Magnussen’s form in 2018 perfectly demonstrates what consistency and a bit of confidence can do for a driver. Considering his stop-start career (McLaren, benched, late Renault call-up, Haas) it is little wonder that it has taken this long for him to emerge as a standout midfielder. There were flashes of promise in 2017 but this year he has been Haas’ lead driver, signalling his intent from the off by nonchalantly passing Max Verstappen at the start in Australia. Points in seven of the 12 races – that would be nine without team blunders – leaves him on a respectable 45, but it is his qualifying speed that has impressed. Having failed to reach Q3 since 2014, a situation that left him playing catch-up on Sundays, he has taken a top 10 spot eight times, and heads Grosjean in the intra-team battle. There have been low moments – especially his bafflingly dangerous move on Pierre Gasly in Azerbaijan – but overall the Magnussen/Haas relationship has blossomed this year. 

For a driver approaching 150 Grands Prix Grosjean is frustratingly enigmatic, capable of executing an accomplished drive one weekend and subsequently following it up with a mistake of rookie proportions. Grosjean’s 2018 campaign has been his least convincing in years, owing to several high-profile mistakes, accentuated by the improved machinery highlighting the missed chances. Grosjean cannot be blamed for setbacks in Australia and Bahrain, and a general malaise at a few other races, but his error in Azerbaijan was breathtakingly bonkers, and just two weeks later in Spain his causing of a multi-car first-lap pile-up was reckless in the extreme. Silly crashes and clashes in France and Britain provided further angst as Magnussen added the points. Yet in Austria – a perennially strong track – he scored a magnificent fourth, and brilliantly rose to sixth late on in Germany. His future may well depend on whether Haas is willing to accept the lows that come with the highs and continue its loyalty – or if the depths are now too costly and consistent. Comments post-Silverstone suggested he is walking a tightrope.