Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Hockenheimring, 2018

‘No point to keep working on this car’: Haas switches focus to 2019

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In the round-up: Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the team is now dedicating its development effort to its new car for the 2019 F1 season.

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What they say

Steiner was asked whether the team had decided to switch its focus to its car for next year.

We decided. We are doing the ’19 car. We have to because otherwise you fall too far behind. And also when you look at our car now in the midfield we are quite solid so it’s no point to keep on working on this one because we have to look at the future.

We make developments and we will bring them to the car in the next races. They are smaller ones. In the windtunnel we are developing the ’19 car.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Yesterday we took a look at which F1 drivers are performing best compared to their team mates so far this year. Here’s AmericanF1’s assessment:

The two drivers that have impressed me the most, particularly in relation to their teammates, have been Magnussen and Leclerc. Grosjean can be devastatingly quick on the day, but he seems to need all the stars to align before he can unleash that speed. Leclerc has really come into his own and showed Ericsson to be a lackluster performer.

My biggest disappointment so far has been Hartley. I had high hopes for him based on his performance with Porsche, but he seems to be having difficulty with the change from LMP1 to F1.
AmericanF1

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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44 comments on “‘No point to keep working on this car’: Haas switches focus to 2019”

  1. Haas switches focus to 2019

    Haha, that’s a good joke. :)
    Are they gonna print calendars?
    Because Ferrari is developing the car, and judging by the pace and the fact that they have their best chance at the title in a decade, I think they’re going to pull all the stops to make the best possible car for 2019 for Haas.

    1. That’s a really tired and patently false assertion. Ben Agathangelou and his team are top notch aerodynamicists and have brought quite a few novel ideas to the Haas F1 cars not seen on Ferrari or any other F1 car. It does help that they are using one of the best wind tunnels in F1, and because they are using the same wind tunnel as Ferrari, most of the parts beneath the bodywork are the same, and the Ferrari has been one of the best cars aerodynamically for the past few years. Of course they are going to come out similar.

      1. @seanloh, I wouldn’t say that Ferrari’s wind tunnel is “one of the best” in the sport – they had a lot of difficulty in upgrading from being able to run 50% scale models to 60% models, with years of miscalibration and problems with the design of the wind tunnel introducing unintended turbulence into the airstream.

        If anything, it makes even less sense for Haas to use Ferrari’s wind tunnel when Haas itself owns what is often held up as one of the best wind tunnels in the entire motorsport industry, which is their Windshear facility – one of only a handful of wind tunnels which can accommodate full scale models, or a production vehicle, if so desired. It’s been used in F1 a few times too – Lotus (now Renault) once took one of their cars (possibly Kimi’s car) to the Windshear facility to run it in their wind tunnel back in 2013.

        There are other facilities which have generally been rated as superior to Ferrari’s facilities and are also open to Haas. The Toyota Motorsport Group (TMG) facility in Cologne sees a lot of use from the rest of the grid – every single team will have almost certainly spent at least some time in that facility, including Ferrari: Ferrari has also traditionally used Sauber’s wind tunnel as well, since that was considered to be pretty good as well thanks to the amount of investment BMW put into it whilst they owned the team.

        1. False.
          Windshear or any full scale wind tunnel is not applicable to use in current Formula 1. Might as well not exist in this context.

        2. As stated by @uneedafinn2win, Haas can’t use Windshear for F1.

          Most of the problems pointed out about Ferrari’s wind tunnel were addressed when they rebuilt it to fix those very problems and the results don’t seem to be too shabby on track. TMG and Sauber’s facilities would not make sense either for Haas for a variety of reasons and Ferrari’s wind tunnel is just down the road from Dallara where Haas does most of their design work and all of their production.

    2. When they are talking about switching to 2019 they mean Aero development.

      Haas cant buy bodywork from Ferrari. All wings, panels, bargeboards, floor, diffuser are all made by Haas. Of course they can copy the Ferrari, but so can any other team.

      Aero costs the most money to develop. And cant be transferred between teams (not even Red Bull Torro Rosso). So Haas have plenty of work to do for 2019 and deciding to start now seems logical.

      Whatever Ferrari produce in terms of engine, gearbox, suspension for 2019, Haas will take. But that doesn’t mean they can just sit back and do nothing.

      In the next few years, almost all customer teams will be using the Haas model, as it seems to be the only one that is sustainable in this state of F1.

      1. But why switch to 2019 when they’re fighting for fourth this year? If they switch and FI start getting competitive they could lose at least one more place this year.

        1. Being a smaller team new parts designed now would probably never make production by the end of the year. It is a big risk, but they do have a package that on a perfect weekend is the 4th fastest. I believe he does mention some small upgrades are in production now so with that design done, time to design for 2019 so winter production can make spring testing. Small team lead times I’m sure are much longer than the big teams, plus any damaged or destroyed parts will make it that much more important to have production capacity for the second half.

  2. Bad day for Williams. I sincerely hope that Claire and the rest of her cohorts had written up a contingency plan for an event such as this.

    Even if they land a title sponsor, Williams need to change their operating philosophy. Sure the world isn’t fair, but they need to get off the high horse and acknowledge that this isn’t 2003 and that they may need to start sourcing more components. Holding on to your ideals to preserve your legacy is pointless, and that’s where I feel they are going wrong.

    Everybody loves Williams, like Mclaren and Brabham before, they were innovators and set the bar. We would obviously love for Williams to be a front running team, but the reality is that it isn’t. Moan all you like about inequity, the reality is that you have to cut the coat accorinding to the cloth you have. If Williams are to survive, they will need to bite the bullet and go the way of Haas (well the version that they tell us of anyway.

    Allez Force Canada Life Stroll?

    1. @jaymenon10

      Allez Force Canada Life Stroll?

      You left out Aston Martin Tag Heuer. And I appreciate it.

      The question is…would a Mercedes ‘B’ team…er a Williams be as competitive as Hass?

      I despise the idea, but maybe this is the transition period into Liberty permitting full customer cars. Then every narcissistic billionaire could enter a team at reasonable cost, grids would be full, racing would be filled with reasonably fast backmarkers and we could rejoice that F1 hadn’t become a spec series. Sure, maybe a two-spec series, but that’s still twice as good as Indy. ;-)

      1. I like this idea

      2. @jimi-cynic

        Actually I completely forgot that Aston Martin may not be sponsoring RB next year due to it being a Honda works team. This could mean they may be up for grabs? Aston has a relationship with Merc, the Toto connection could see them tie in with Williams perhaps?

        1. @jaymenon10 I predict Aston will drift away from F1 because they’ve baulked on the engine idea. They’ll hang around as long as they need Newey to work on that silly car…

          1. Optimaximal
            Agreed. Aston were only ever interested in F1 as a marketing exercise. They have neither the resources, not the expertise to supply power units. Why any fan thought otherwise is a mystery to me. Simply put, they don’t even make their own engines (true not many small car manufacturers make their own power units either) for their own cars, never mind doing so for Red Bull. I think Red Bull understood that as well, hence the Honda deal.

        2. The Honda engine will be rebranded, like this years Renault.
          Nothing new there.

      3. Andretti Autosport has stated before that it would most likely put for an entry in a customer scenario, and I’d put money on Penske following suit.

        Indycar is healthy, healthier than it’s been in a decade, but it’s still just a “local” event as far as sponsors are concerned.

        So opening access to these well established teams to bring new possibilities to globally inclined companies in the US and at the same time generating more revenue for the sport in total is not a wholly unacceptable notion.
        Sure, they would by definition be second tier but really that’s just semantics compared to the current situation in the sport.

  3. The decision of Haas is understandable. I can also agree with the COTD.
    – Hamilton’s Instagram post, and more precisely the message of it, though.

    1. Post and act is just for publicity, both to promote himself and the cause. I bet the environmentalists are frothing at the mouth.

      1. Is that a bad thing?

      2. Well the environmentalist who’ve commented don’t seem to as distraught as you are

      3. Post and act is just for publicity, both to promote himself and the cause. I bet the environmentalists are frothing at the mouth.

        Ahh the 2 sticks used to beat Hamilton

        1) He posts about something he’s doing: “It’s nothing more than a PR stunt”
        2) He doesn’t post about something he’s doing (like his charity work): “Hamilton doesn’t do anything to help others”

        Absolutely ridiculous.

      4. An observation only, but its interesting how you guys took it.

  4. So where exactly is Hamilton?anybody know?

    1. He was seen here in Greece in the island of Mykonos a few days ago..

    2. As much as I hope its not… I just feel like the whole thing was pr stunt. It was awfully convenient them having all those black sacks and plastic gloves for everyone. Still… nothing wrong with raising awareness.

      1. Hamilton will never be able to do anything that won’t be perceived by many of you as a “PR stunt”…

        However I do know for certain, that had this been done by any other driver on the grid, they’d be praised for upstanding and thoughtful they are.

        Hamilton has for months been posting videos on his Instagram account about plastic pollution in the ocean, he even said he’d talk to his team to see if there are ways they too can do their part with recycling plastics. So no, it’s not a PR stunt

      2. So what if it was a publicity stunt? He did something worth doing and helped the environment, even if it was a small step. PR move or not, it’s something he’s doing by taking time out of his vacation. Not something we’d be doing.

    3. who cares?

      i’ve been watching F1 for 20 years and never knew where drivers were, and what they were doing in their free time. couldnt care less.

  5. The interview with Ricciardo has this at the end:

    When asked what it’s like racing against two drivers who are statistically among the greatest of all time, this is how he responded.

    “Are you talking about Seb?”
    Yes.
    “I beat him.”

    We broke into laughs, but the feigned arrogance was only a partial joke.

    “Taking nothing away from them, I firmly believe that I’m capable of achieving the same things,” he said “But it’s also easier said than done. To give them credit, and I’m sure it’s due 100 per cent, I’ve won races and won under high pressure situations, but I’ve never gone to Abu Dhabi with a chance to win [the title].

    “You’ve got one weekend now and it’s between two or three of you, do you have what it takes? I believe I’ve got it, but I haven’t been in that position. That’s the next level.”

    Pretty rare to hear someone who is both this grounded and confident in F1.

  6. Whatever Andretti is drinking, I want 2 of them. I can’t get over the one girl that got away.

    1. Yeah, that was an interesting take, but perhaps not unexpected (he is a racing driver after all – he has to believe he was essentially as good as senna, or why show up at all??). The revealing thing is that in each case where ‘it got away’ there was just one tiny thing preventing him from a great showing. that’s fair enough. but it happened repeatedly throughout the season – and they’re just the mistakes he’s recalling (to make himself look good). it’s an interesting study in selective memory or cognitive dissonance (or whatever people want to call it).

      1. Great article i thought.

        It’s pretty fair to say under Ron Mclaren were always a one man team. So Michael’s points are probably valid.

  7. Haha, that Lewis… social desirable posting behaviour. Surely having a private plane helps the planet.. hilarious

    1. Why can’t we just applaud people when they do something good?

      1. YellowSubmarine
        8th August 2018, 10:19

        You’ll find that anyone else will get applauded for such astuff, just not Hamilton.
        Some people cannot be helped, you just ignore them.

      2. @mayrton,
        I think plastic pollution awareness is a bit more important than the impact of his private jet.

        1. @praxis It’s about attitude, not the particular polution. And authenticity. Lewis seems in PR mode with these things. And to be clear, I am a Lewis fan and think he is the best one out there (at the moment).

          1. Isn’t it the other way round though @mayrton: Hamilton has begun to care for this – he’s been to that island quite a few times in recent years, so maybe he just got interested in why all the mess is on the beach over time – and since he cares for it and has a huge follower base, he just finds it important to share his worry for the situation and help gain more and more supporters to battle plastic waste messing up our world?

            Surely Hamilton doesn’t need to gain fans from doing this. And there aren’t too many brands out there that would be paying him to do so either. So why is it hard to accept that this is something he just cares for?

      3. Simply commenting on Lewis PR mode. Love the guy, just not when he turns on the PR mode.

        1. So what about the sponsors? Should F1 refuse sponsorship because it’s private relations mode? Should Lewis? I’m sure he doesn’t care for monster energy drinks. It’s just necessary for a sustainable F1.

          I find it ironic how fans who don’t want no PR, justify sponsorship, it’s even more disingenuous. PR whether genuine or not (I believe the recycling bit is genuine) is necessary to attract viewers and sponsors, the sponsorship rarely comes without good PR. It’s a positive thing, it makes people do better, and if Lewis can get even a quarter of his followers to recycle more, it will greatly counteract any damage his jet is doing, it’s not even close.

  8. The only thing wrong with the bleeps is that there isn’t a higher pitched one when the lights go out. #polepositionarcade

    1. Ah, that’s so true!

    2. :-) good beep there!

Comments are closed.