{"id":18895,"date":"2024-03-02T17:53:26","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T22:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=18895"},"modified":"2024-03-02T17:58:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T22:58:16","slug":"why-haas-now-have-the-attention-of-formula-1s-midfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/02\/why-haas-now-have-the-attention-of-formula-1s-midfield\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Haas now have the attention of Formula 1&#8217;s midfield"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Haas F1 struggled for positive coverage prior to this weekend&#8217;s race in Bahrain, but this pessimism is no longer the prevailing theme.<\/h3>\n<p>Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen both showed very promising speed in Sakhir. The VF-24 is far more predictable than last year&#8217;s car, giving the American team a good platform to work with.<\/p>\n<p>The Bahrain GP certainly wasn&#8217;t all smooth sailing.<\/p>\n<p>Early contact with Lance Stroll compromised Hulkenberg&#8217;s evening, relegating him to the back of the pack.<\/p>\n<p>However, his race pace was comparable to the Aston Martin pairing &#8211; who rounded out the top 10.<\/p>\n<p>This feat cannot be overstated, considering where these teams were last season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">RACE PACE &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BahrainGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BahrainGP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>VER was 0.41s\/lap quicker than his teammate, on average!<br \/>\nSAI: same pace as PER<br \/>\nThe McL\/Mercedes battle was TIGHT: just 0.08s\/lap between the 4 drivers!<\/p>\n<p>Laptime change vs 2023 (s\/lap):<br \/>\nFerr -2.26<br \/>\nMerc -1.90<br \/>\nMcL -1.89 (and fewer pits)<br \/>\nRB -1.86<br \/>\nAston -1.24 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hqhMcdflb5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/hqhMcdflb5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Formula Data Analysis (@FDataAnalysis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FDataAnalysis\/status\/1763979352197288060?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The 36-year-old still crossed the finish line before <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/01\/alpine-without-answers-after-nightmare-bahrain-qualifying\/\" target=\"_self\">both Alpines,<\/a> a Williams and a Sauber.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst far from sensational at face value, this is a respectable result under the circumstances. Meanwhile, his teammate was the author of a far cleaner race.<\/p>\n<p>Magnussen was frustrated with his efforts in qualifying, which left him several places outside of the top 10.<\/p>\n<p>In Bahrain&#8217;s Saturday race, a good start put him <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/02\/tensions-flare-between-tsunoda-and-ricciardo-post-race\/\" target=\"_self\">firmly in the midfield.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Whereas last year, the Dane would have struggled with tyre degradation, this trend is already changing.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"Z6epe_AuRm9Oti8osxQHgw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2045925793\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Z6epe_AuRm9Oti8osxQHgw',sig:'OhMZm9fzdogdxmiR2gM8j1IRgPEN24NqSpAulNwDFNc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2045925793',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>New year, new Haas<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>K-Mag finished in P12, a result which &#8211; on another day &#8211; could have materialised into points with retirements further up the field.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, Ayao Komatsu can be very pleased with his team&#8217;s efforts. Haas are now firm contenders on race day.<\/p>\n<p>Telemetry data almost unanimously points towards Haas as the sixth-fastest team in the Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>Considering this hardly happened at any stage in 2023, the progress made over winter cannot be overstated.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to spend testing and practice almost exclusively focusing on tyre management has also been vindicated.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, there are possibilities accompanied by familiar obstacles.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"oVuKC5sFQV9mB_hrVkhhEA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2053821932\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'oVuKC5sFQV9mB_hrVkhhEA',sig:'SAnGDbuAZxY0s6pIJt1w4YYvOTgJYJHYZsueIrIoK7Q=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2053821932',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>There is no denying that Haas can compete for points on a semi-consistent basis this year.<\/p>\n<p>Hulkenberg and Magnussen are certainly not destined to be backmarkers. However, a word of caution is necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst the likes of Alpine are struggling, the American outfit cannot stagnate.<\/p>\n<p>Improvements, ideally in the form of a regular upgrade plan, are a critical ingredient to their medium-term success.<\/p>\n<p>Considering the usual constraints at Haas, progress at Maranello could be their saving grace.<\/p>\n<p>If Ferrari can improve the SF-24 throughout 2024, it seems reasonable to expect a similar trajectory from Komatsu&#8217;s squad.<\/p>\n<p>After all, the US outfit&#8217;s best season have historically coincided with competitive Ferrari cars.<\/p>\n<p>At least for now, though, they are in the mix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Haas F1 struggled for positive coverage prior to this weekend&#8217;s race in Bahrain, but this pessimism is no longer the prevailing theme. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen both showed very promising speed in Sakhir. The VF-24 is far more predictable than last year&#8217;s car, giving the American team a good platform to work with. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":18896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,68,2238,23,346,300,2248],"class_list":["post-18895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-f1","tag-f1-2024","tag-formula-1","tag-haas","tag-haas-f1","tag-vf-24"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}