Haas is looking to build on last year’s incredible pole position for Kevin Magnussen by achieving even stronger results in 2023, says its technical Director Simone Resta.
Haas displayed substantial improvement in 2022 as it lifted itself off the basement of the standings to grab eighth place in the standings.
Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher managed nine points finishes between them in a more than respectable year, with the Dane scoring a sensational maiden pole position in Brazil.
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Schumacher has been replaced by Nico Hulkenberg for 2023, with the German taking his first full-time drive in Formula 1 since leaving Renault at the end of 2019.
Ahead of Haas’ shakedown of its recently revealed VF-23 at Silverstone, Resta expressed his optimism that the new driver pairing can reach greater heights this year following on from Magnussen’s pole in Sao Paulo.
“Last year’s pole position brought great joy to everyone in the team – it was the first for Haas,” he said.
“For me, our objective is always to maximize our performance in every condition, on every track, with both drivers. How that will materialize into a final result, I’m not sure. It would be great to see a podium or a race win, we always have to aim high and let’s see what we can get in 2023.”
Over the winter, the Haas crew has been working on a broad range of improvements on the car.
“Looking back at last year I think there are many lessons, and I think that we’ll be able to address all of them,” Resta said. “We saw quite a good performance at some tracks but more difficulties at other circuits. The issues seen with porpoising, we’ve tried to improve them also.
“In general, we’ve collected all the feedback, prioritized, and made sure that the new project will feature improvement in all areas.”
After a year of familiarising themselves with the current philosophy, the Haas technical head reckons that the midfield teams will engage in a more competitive battle in the upcoming campaign.
“It’s always very difficult to predict what’s happening in a new season in terms of competitiveness and ranking from the first to the last cars on the grid,” explained Resta.
“Considering a good stability in terms of regulation and considering the outcome of last year, I think that we might see the gap closing, but let’s see.”
Magnussen and Schumacher had few upgrades to work with in the latter part of last year as Guenther Steiner’s team started to look towards 2023. This year though, Resta hints that in-season improvements to the car may be a little more frequent.
“On upgrades, I think it’s probably one of the most ‘fashionable’ arguments in Formula 1 and I won’t spoil the surprise for anyone,” he added.
“For sure, we’ll have a stronger program of upgrades compared to last year and we are still working on that, we are at the very beginning. We’ve just defined the launch car, so the team is working on it. We have our roadmap, but it’s very early to say exactly what we’ll do and when.”
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