Haas unhappy to see unstable elements on rival cars

Haas F1 Team principal Guenther Steiner has expressed his frustration with unstable parts seen on competing cars in Austin.

Published on 24/10/2022 à 10:02

Valentin GLO

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Haas unhappy to see unstable elements on rival cars

Guenther Steiner “not very happy” in Austin despite Magnussen’s points (Photo DPPI)

Haas celebrated the arrival of its new title sponsor MoneyGram by scoring the points for eighth place in Austin through Kevin Magnussen. The Dane managed to use a one-stop strategy to enable this feat, even if he had to lose against Sebastian Vettel in the last lap of United States Grand Prix

“I’m super happy, reacted Magnussen after the race. For us as a team, it's very important to get these points at our home race in the United States – and it's very important on the weekend where we announce a great title sponsor with MoneyGram – it couldn’t come at a better time.

Of course, I'm gutted to lose a place to Sebastian. I have to say that was some great driving from him, that's when you realize why he is a four-time world champion. The strategy we implemented was purely driven by the team. Such a small team fighting like that is great. »

The fight between Vettel and Magnussen on the last lap

Ninth at the checkered flag, the Haas driver finally moved up one place in the standings after the 30-second penalty inflicted on Fernando Alonso (Alpine).

It was at the instigation of the American team that the Spaniard was reprimanded for continuing on the track with a wobbly right mirror after his spectacular collision with Lance stroll (Aston Martin).

A mirror which came loose when the Iberian was precisely in the wake of the Haas, before overtaking it. A situation not to Guenther Steiner's taste when his driver had been called to order by a black and orange flag three times this season (Canada, Hungary and Singapore) for problems with his car

“After two difficult days, it’s a good result, said the Team Principal. The whole team did a fantastic job, you couldn't ask for more, because the car was fast and Kevin was confident he could go all the way with his tires. I wouldn't say it was a gamble, I would say we took our chance, but we had a backup strategy to switch to the soft tires and we brought back a few points.

I'm not really happy with what happened with the other cars losing parts and not being reprimanded like we were, so we'll follow this up. Mick had a really good pace on his first stint, he did a fantastic job and then when the accident happened he picked up debris and lost downforce.

We haven't seen the car yet but I think the diffuser was damaged and he couldn't do the same times with the new set of tires. With Money Gram as sponsor for the first event, our home race, we are very happy to give them this result – it’s a team effort. »

On the side of Mick Schumacher, the German finished outside the points after hitting an unwanted element during the collision between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

“I think we were close to scoring some good points today, but it seems like we picked up a big part that did a lot of damage to the car and then we couldn't get the most out of it because of these damage, analyzed the son of seven-time world champion Michael.

We had it in the second stint and the car was no longer the same, and I couldn't keep the pace from before which was very promising. It's a shame because we have the impression that bad luck follows us. » 

ALSO READ > 30-second penalty for Fernando Alonso in Austin

Valentin GLO

Journalist. Endurance reporter (WEC, IMSA, ELMS, ALMS) and sometimes F1 or IndyCar.

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