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Haas has emerged as a dark horse favourite to finish 'best of the rest' behind the top three teams in 2018. Until recently, it appeared that Renault was clearly the strongest behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
But former F1 driver Alex Wurz told Speed Week: "Haas makes a big impression on me. The car looks excellent -- as good as last year's Ferrari. And everyone knows how good that worked. And the handling is really impressive on any fuel load," he added.
Haas boss Gunther Steiner admits the American team could lead the midfield in 2018. "It seems that the middle of the grid will be very close, but I hope we manage to lead them," he said.
And Jan Magnussen, a former driver who is Haas driver Kevin Magnussen's father, told BT newspaper that it's "hard to be pessimistic" after the Barcelona testing. "I can imagine that the test filled the whole team with confidence," said the former Stewart driver.
"Kevin said the car feels good, that it suits him well and that they've taken a step forward. But when comparing to the others it's just guessing. You have Toro Rosso, Haas, Williams, McLaren and Renault and it's hard to know where you are in that group. But the team and Kevin are optimistic," Magnussen snr added. "Now they go to Melbourne so we'll find out." (GMM)
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
25 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (9)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
So far so good. And no bragging to boot. Lets see if they can keep it up.
Barron
Posts: 625
You can expect challenges from the other teams if they do perform this well. The entire car is a de facto Ferrari in the true sense of the word and there is no way a small F1 “Constructor” can arrive at this point without a major injection from an established team. The sheer fact that this car appears to be a copy of last year’s factory Ferrari and that it was manufactured by a third party should set some alarm bells ringing amongst followers if F1 who enjoy the engineering challenges as well as the driver competition. Put it this way, if it is slow, no-one will care (although they should), but if it is quick as is claimed, then there will be some very concerned team principals this year..I expect Red Bull to be in the forefront of that. Why? Because they have their own ‘B’ team, but are full constructors within the spirit of the rules with their own design & manufacturing facilities. Imagine if Red Bull supplied a Newey designed chassis to STR. Can you visualise the furore this would create? This imaginary scenario is no different than the current Haas set-up.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Except STR and RB has worked together on several occasions. Not as direct as Ferrari with Haas perhaps, but close enough to count in my book.
Barron
Posts: 625
Partly true but STR are a full Constructor with factory design & manufacture as required by the rules of F1. Haas are not, they make very little. As I say, the top teams are not particularly worried as long as Haas is floating around at the rear of the field, but watch out if they appear near the sharp end. Another concern is that effectively, Ferrari now control almost 1/3rd if the grid.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Thats all very well, but the point stands. If one should be able to share data or parts, so should the rest, be it full constructors or teams having someone else do the constructing. Mind, Dallara doesnt develop all of the chassis: Haas is pretty involved in that process aswell. They just dont do the final touches and the legwork.
Im pretty sure this is Ferrari's intention. Its a display of influence and power. "See what we bring to the table? If you aint pleasin' us, we are out".
Savio
Posts: 145
No, because... K-Mag & Grosjean are on board.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Hardly the best lineup, but far from bad. KMag just need to cool down a notch, and Romain "He Hit Me" Grosjean could use a course in humility, but they are evenly matched, seem to work well together, and with the right car they could very well be up nipping on Renault's bits.
wmponfire
Posts: 6
They will start at a good note surely. But as the season goes forward, they cant keep up with the other teams develeopment.
Savio
Posts: 145
Oh! Really?