Welcome Drivers!

This post is a continuation of the Constructor Deep Dive series we are currently working through. If you haven’t already, check out the deep dives that we have already done below.

• Williams Racing (Link)

• AlphaTauri (Link)

Next on the list is Haas who finished 8th in the Constructors championship in 2022.

2022 Performance

Haas made a good step forward in the 2022 season. Coming off a season where the were the only team not to score a point, they got the new regulations right and were able to put themselves in points scoring positions. Due to financial constraints, they were not able to develop the car as much relative to other teams.

Haas finished the 2022 season with 37 points and was 18 points behind Aston Martin in P7. Kevin Magnussen led the team with 25 points and Mick Schumacher, who is now a reserve drivers for Mercedes, contributed the remaining 12 points. Schumacher ultimately did not make the progress that the team was expecting and the team decided to make the mover to a more experienced driver.

Haas was able to get on the board quickly in 2022 with Magnussen taking P5 in the first race of the season. The team was also particularly strong in the Austrian Grand Prix where Schumacher and Magnussen placed 6th and 8th respectively. Other than those two races the results were mixed. As mentioned before, their lack of development made it hard for them to keep their performance ahead of other teams like Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo.

We are looking for Haas to continue to make progress in the right direction in 2023. They have a new title sponsor in MoneyGram that should give them a little more flexibility from a financial standpoint. They have gone the more experienced direction with their drivers which should help them with consistent feedback for development and more consistent results on the track.

Looking Ahead to 2023

Leadership, Management & Partnerships

As we mentioned earlier in the post, Haas was able to secure a title partnership with MoneyGram. Their new livery showcases this partnership and the team was renamed “MoneyGram Haas F1 Team.” For purposes of our newsletter we will continue to refer to them as Haas.

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes the new partnership with MoneyGram will appeal to their existing fanbase and also bring new global opportunities to F1. We don’t know how much of that to believe. Steiner is notorious around the paddock for going to the extreme to earn the team more money. Hopefully with this partnership he will no longer have to focus on that as much. He should turn his full attention on the development of the car to maximize their chances in the midfield.

Development

Haas has already run their shakedown at the time of this post and there were some noticeable changes to the VF-23. The primary changes revolve around the front wing, side pods and potentially some weight saving changes. All of these are speculation as we have only seen short glimpses of video and picture during the shakedown.

When you look at the VF-23 side pods there are clear similarities to last year’s Ferrari. This is no surprise given Haas purchases most of their components from Ferrari and share a lot of similarity with the Maranello team. Haas is keeping the “bathtub” style side pods that they worked on developing last year and have also made changes to the inlets that were similar to how the Ferrari’s was last year.

Some other more visible changes were to the changes to the shark fin and engine cover of the VF-23. The fin has been cut into two “tiers” and they kept the detached dorsal section similar to what they had done in 2022. There is a bump in the bodywork under the dorsal fin where the exhaust has a kink in it to go over the suspension.

There is also a good amount of change on the front wing of the car. It looks like they shaved off some of the underside of the nose for some aero efficiency and potentially weight saving tactics. The flaps and the endplates were also adjusted with the more surface towards the static flaps and the leading knuckles on the endplate have been abandoned.

Drivers

Haas is bringing back Nico Hulkenberg to race alongside Kevin Magnussen. These to have a very funny viral moment where Hulkenberg comes up to Magnussen and says he is the most “unsporting” driver on the grid. Magnussen in kind replies with “Suck my balls mate.” This made its runs all over social media and it was brought up again when Haas made their announcement on Hulkenberg joining the team.

Regardless of their past incidents, we think Haas is making the right move here. Will now have 2 very experienced drivers behind the wheel which is a breath of fresh air compared to the double rookie lineup they had in 2021. Haas will be expecting to get consistent feedback from their drivers with the hopes of developing their car and staying competitive in the midfield.

Hulkenberg does not have an easy road ahead of him. He has not been a fulltime driver in F1 since the 2019 season. He has been a reserve driver for both Racing Point and Aston Martin but those roles are very different than being in a F1 car week after week. He will need some time to get back into the swing of things but he has the talent and the knowledge to be a very productive member of the team.

Magnussen is returning to Haas after a positive 2022. After being the only pointless team in 2021, the only way to go was up. Kevin stabilized an erratic driver situation that had the likes of Nikita Mazepin behind the wheel. He immediately became the leader of the team and given is chemistry and history with Haas we assume he will be the leader again.

Overall we think Haas made improvements to their driver lineup and as long as they keep developing their car this season their chances of being competitive in the midfield are high.

2023 Predictions

We think Haas will end up in the same spot as last year with a potential of rising to P7 in the constructors championship. We like their driver lineup and it seems like the team is committed to the continued development of the car. We will find out within the first few races if their commitment has paid off.

The main reason we think they won’t rise higher than 7th is we don’t think they will be able to keep pace with new developments relative to teams around them. Fortunately for Haas the teams around them have those same question marks. Haas need to hit the ground running fast and try to keep the lead rather than race from behind in the standings.

Upcoming Posts and Reader Feedback

Our next post will be a continuation of the deep dives into each team for their 2023 outlook. We will try to get out one a day considering we have limited time before the pre-season testing starts in late February.

If you like the post please subscribe to the newsletter. We try to publish 2-3 articles a week and will be doing in-depth breakdowns as the season gets going. Feel free to leave any comments or recommendations on topics you would like to be covered. Thanks for reading!