Opinion: Haas humiliated but are destined to get the last laugh

The main headline at Albert Park was Sebastian Vettel getting ‘lucky’ to win the first race of the new Formula 1 season by leapfrogging, expected championship rival, Lewis Hamilton. It was the German’s second consecutive victory in the land down under, picking up from last season’s opening race.

But one of the biggest talking points from the opening weekend was the embarrassing DNFs for the American team Haas. A team that stepped onto the F1 circuit in 2016 for the very first time leaving many questions out on the grid on whether Haas would be taken seriously.

Previous groups such as HRT, Caterham and Manor have a lot of things in common but the real eye opener was all three teams failed to stay for a long term in the sport. They have been forgotten and the F1 community had moved on very swiftly. That was the worry for a number of fans when they first heard of Haas. Would it be a team that would struggle to last? Or could they offer something very special?

Haas’ contribution has so far been rather impressive in their first couple of years. But 2018 looks to be their best season yet. Sunday’s race was going more than swimmingly for the US team as they were just behind Hamilton and the Ferraris in fourth and sixth. But then came laps 22 and 24 and it would be a completely different story. 

Kevin Magnussen, a racer who has the whole driver’s field to prove wrong, was the first to retire no thanks to his colleagues by failing to place one of the four wheels on properly. Two laps later and it would be a mutual problem for Romain Grosjean. The cameras witnessed the emotions in the Haas garage including one of the members of the pit stop crew walking out through the back.

F1 is known for many of its incredible improvements over the history of the sport and that includes the length of a typical pit stop. An average pit stop time in today’s F1 races is at an average of around 1.9 seconds and in that length we see a consistency of no mistakes. The amount of money pumped into the sport and training conducted doesn’t give many excuses to today’s F1 mechanics. For Haas to make a basic mistake on both of their cars is a rare sight. 

It was a touching moment when it looked as though Grosjean was forgiving the mechanic responsible for the mistake. The video just reminds you how under pressure the mechanics are in as well as the drivers racing on the track.

With the next race in Bahrain taking place in a fortnight’s time, the bosses at Haas may just have a bit of time on their side to reflect on the problems they suffered from Sunday’s race. And a bit of time to improve the quality of the pit crew. During the pre-season testing in Barcelona, Haas performed better than many were expecting and some have tipped the team to do very well in 2018.

This year is going to be a very long season with 20 races remaining after the conclusion of the Australian Grand Prix. Sunday is a day to drown for Haas but it’s a sign that if the crew get everything right on race day, this team could be challenging for fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship. Something for the Force India team to bare in mind.

Haas can be a laughing stock on social media for the next few days to come but if they are as serious as they have so far shown this season, they could be the ones laughing back at the doubters. The nine-month long race has only just begun.  

Jamie Davies