As of: March 29, 2024, 5:21 a.m
By: Hannes Niemeyer
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Haas is off to a good start to the season in Formula 1. But things are simmering away from the track. The team is therefore now taking action.
Melbourne – Anyone who sticks with Team Haas in Formula 1 has had little to cheer about in recent years. Things will look completely different for the US racing team in 2024. For the crisis-hit team, the first three races of the new season must feel like a reincarnation. While Haas has regularly struggled in recent years to avoid being last in the points standings, now it's literally raining down something countable.
This is also thanks to the last German driver on the F1 grid: Nico Hülkenberg. The veteran started the season brilliantly. Most recently in Melbourne he even finished ninth. In Saudi Arabia at the second Grand Prix he also managed to get into the points with tenth place. However, it was precisely this race that Hülkenberg's Haas team caused trouble in the paddock - and now there are consequences.
Anger over Haas after Formula 1 race in Saudi Arabia - anger over illegal maneuvers
During the race in Jeddah there was a situation that caused discussion. Hülkenberg's teammate Kevin Magnussen overtook Yuki Tsunoda illegally and received a time penalty. For the Dane, the race was actually already over. But instead of giving up, he put himself fully into the service of the team and tried to keep Hülkenberg's back, who was in one point.
There was occasional praise for the Haas team, but the criticism predominated - especially since this was only really possible because of the illegal overtaking. Out of fear of imitators, some people from the Formula 1 world even called for the rules to be adjusted.
Trouble for the Haas team around Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. The racing team draws conclusions. © IMAGO / HochZwei + IMAGO / Motorsport Images
The Haas team has apparently also realized that such a “sacrifice” of the second driver for the result of the first driver is not exactly the best racing style. The team “didn’t know that Kevin Tsunoda had overtaken off the track,” Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu now admitted, as the specialist portal
motorsport-total.com
reports. “As a team, we should have known this immediately,” Komatsu continued. He also emphasizes that Magnussen should actually have given up the new position - if this had happened, there would not have been any discussions in the first place.
“We failed”: Haas admits mistakes in Formula 1 races
However, Komatsu finds the following stalling tactic itself to be okay. “Anyone would have done that,” claimed the Japanese during the race weekend in Melbourne. The overtaking off the track was “unsporting”, but he described allegations that the maneuver had been done intentionally as “ridiculous”. Komatsu explains that his team only found out about the maneuver three laps after the incident, but that the order to stop the field had already been given. The incident does not remain without consequences.
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“Our job is to monitor the situation, and we have failed at that,” Komatsu concluded. Also because there are not enough staff available to carry out such monitoring. The so-called Mission Control in the Haas team is simply too small. The kind of surveillance that the top teams do on the radio cannot be carried out.
After admitting a mistake: Hülkenberg team Haas takes action
But we've been working on that now. We now have people who “follow the onboards all the time and at least hear the radio traffic of the drivers who are fighting against our pilots,” explains Komatsu. At least one person would be available for each driver. So we learned from the mistake.
Despite Haas' good start, it is still not clear who will be in the cockpits next season. Nico Hülkenberg could also be worried about his Formula 1 place because of a young driver. Another star is also about to retire from Formula 1.
(han)