The performance and hierarchical positioning of the Haas VF-22 is hard to crack, to say the least. To date, Haas is the only team that has not yet improved its car and, despite this, lately they have improved their sensations and results in a “surprising” way.
Kevin Magnussen and teammate Mick Schumacher have posted wildly disparate rankings in recent weekends, finishing fifth and sixth in Montreal, both eliminated at Silverstone and finishing sixth and seventh at the Red Bull Ring.
“At this stage of the year, to continue to be so competitive is a bit surprising, and also very motivating,” said the Dane after qualifying for the Austrian GP, which was backed by his teammate: “I think we are all quite surprised, but in a good way. I am hopeful that we can take another step forward with the improvements that we will bring.”
American team principal Guenther Steiner was also particularly enthusiastic after seeing the team’s results at the Red Bull Ring : “It surprises a lot of people, like you [journalists] I guess! We know there was more [potential for out of the basic package], but even the drivers admit that they never thought this car could be sixth and seventh after qualifying, considering that all the others constantly bring developments.
“We know exactly what we’re doing, and we’re just trying to do the best we can. We believe in ourselves. I think we’ve shown that the car is still competitive. And when the developments come, hopefully it will be even more competitive.” .
In fact, Haas’s only major upgrade package is planned for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but what impact will it have? Kevin Magnussen preferred to be cautious after having seen during 2019 how the novelties had a negative effect on the car.
“It’s exciting, really,” the Dane said of the team’s results at the Austrian GP. “But sometimes you have to be careful with these updates, because the others don’t seem to find much [yield] with theirs. We hope to find something, but I don’t expect a change of direction either. I think if we manage to take a small step forward, it will be positive”.
“This weekend, Alpine, McLaren and ourselves looked very competitive in the middle of the pack, and if we can keep up with their pace it will be a success. place us at the forefront of that middle zone”, he concluded.
In the constructors’ championship, Haas overtook AlphaTauri at Spielberg and will now aim to catch up with Alfa Romeo. In the last two races, the American team has endorsed the Swiss team 19-0 in terms of points added, but in the previous five races the result was practically the opposite: 26-0 for Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.
