Two different cars for Haas at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

For Haas, the situation is serious: the American team is in last place in the Manufacturers' Championship with two rounds to go before the end of the season, four points behind Alfa Romeo. The structure based in Banbury (United Kingdom) was overtaken by a team Alpha Tauri in full rise during the last meetings, and was not able to respond despite major developments introduced during the United States Grand Prix.

To remedy this, Haas will take a gamble for the new Las Vegas Grand Prix. In Nevada, as the teams head into the unknown, the team led by Günther Steiner will install two different aerodynamic packages on the two VF-23s: Nico Hulkenberg will have the original version used at the start of the season, while Kevin Magnussen will run with the new specification introduced in Austin.

“Nico thinks the old spec suits him better, and Kevin feels the opposite way, explained the director of the American team. We chose to give them what they want, we have two races to go and nothing to lose, so we try to do what we can. We could argue about data collection, but we have enough, it's a decision based on what each rider likes more than anything. This puts them in a comfortable position to be as happy as possible with the car they receive. »

Haas faces the challenge of low temperatures

A choice of comfort therefore, to give yourself every chance of moving up the hierarchy and hoping to score points in Las Vegas. A Grand Prix that will be challenging with very low temperatures expected all weekend. “Everyone knows you have to keep tires above the minimum temperature, which is over five degrees, so we always have to keep them a little warmer. It also depends a lot on the asphalt, explains Steiner. It's a combination of temperature and roughness of the asphalt, but I don't think the degradation could be worse for us than in Brazil. On Thursday, during testing, we will get to know the surface, the track, the temperature and we will know more. »

For its third and final home race of the season, Haas wants to shine under the neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Günther Steiner does not hide his impatience to compete in this unprecedented Grand Prix. “It’s fantastic to have three races in the United States, especially as an American team, confides the Italian director. Five or ten years ago, who would have thought we would have more than one race in the United States? (…) What strikes me is the difference between each race. You go to Austin, which is a more "traditional" race with a lot of die-hard fans, then you go to Miami where it's the center of the party, and then we'll see what Vegas brings. We know there will never be any sleep and we are running at night, which is completely different. »

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