Haas F1 – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Magnussen picks up one-race ban for Baku after Monza contact

Kevin Magnussen had his one-race ban confirmed by the FIA after picking up more penalty points at the Italian Grand Prix. The Dane was handed a 10s time penalty and two penalty points for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly, with the contact …

Kevin Magnussen had his one-race ban confirmed by the FIA after picking up more penalty points at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Dane was handed a 10s time penalty and two penalty points for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly, with the contact between the two at the second chicane seeing both miss the corner but continue. Magnussen has been walking a tightrope on 10 penalty points for a number of months — with 12 within a 12-month period triggering a ban — and the two given to him in Monza led to his Super License being suspended for the next race in Baku.

“On the approach to Turn 4, Car No. 20 attempted to overtake Car No. 10 on the inside,” the stewards’ explanation read. “While Car No. 20 had its front axle past the mirror of Car No. 10, the Driving Standards Guidelines specify that an overtaking car has to ‘be driven in a safe and controlled manner throughout the maneuver.’

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“The stewards determined that this was not the case for Car No. 20 and hence the driver was wholly to blame for the collision and hence the standard penalty and penalty points are allocated.”

Following that explanation, a separate document from the stewards confirmed: “The Super License of the driver of Car No. 20 is suspended for the next competition of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship.

“Following this suspension, 12 penalty points will be removed.”

Haas is likely to promote reserve driver Oliver Bearman — who will replace Magnussen at the team in 2025 — into the seat in Azerbaijan, although that is pending final approval from Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur as he’s a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and was due to race in Formula 2 that weekend.

Haas waiting for Uralkali to acknowledge payment before heading to Monza

Haas will not move its trucks and equipment out of the Netherlands until Monday after the Dutch Grand Prix while it waits for Uralkali to acknowledge receipt of its sponsorship funds. The team was ordered to return a payment to its former title …

Haas will not move its trucks and equipment out of the Netherlands until Monday after the Dutch Grand Prix while it waits for Uralkali to acknowledge receipt of its sponsorship funds.

The team was ordered to return a payment to its former title sponsor Uralkali back in June, following a ruling by a Swiss tribunal, and had accepted the findings. However, with payment not received ahead of this weekend’s race, Uralkali sent bailiffs to itemize Haas’ equipment and be able to prevent the team from leaving the country until it transferred the money.

Payment was made by the team on Friday, but with Uralkali yet to acknowledge receipt of the funds, RACER understands Haas will remain in the Netherlands until Monday. Once confirmation of the receipt of payment comes through, then the team’s trucks will immediately depart for next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Uralkali was the Haas title sponsor in 2021 and at the start of 2022, but the contract was terminated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions remain in place against Russia that made it complex to pay large sums of money to the company, but the dispute did not have an impact on Haas’ ability to race at Zandvoort.

Haas has been permitted to return equipment to its suppliers following Sunday’s race, including to its technical partner Ferrari and Formula 1’s tire supplier Pirelli.

Haas extends Ferrari PU deal through 2028

Haas has announced an extension of its technical partnership with Ferrari, including the use of power units, through to at least the end of the 2028 season. Ferrari has supplied Haas with multiple components – including power unit, gearbox and …

Haas has announced an extension of its technical partnership with Ferrari, including the use of power units, through to at least the end of the 2028 season.

Ferrari has supplied Haas with multiple components – including power unit, gearbox and suspension – as part of its deal since the American team entered Formula 1 at the start of the 2016 season. Since then Haas has enjoyed a best finish of fifth in the constructors’ championship in 2018, and currently sits seventh this season, just four points behind RB.

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In announcing the extension of the Ferrari partnership into what will be its 13th season come 2028 – amid new power unit regulations coming into effect in 2026 – Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says it provides stability for the team to continue to grow.

“I’m thrilled to extend our relationship with Scuderia Ferrari until 2028,” Komatsu said. “As an organization we’ve only ever raced with Ferrari power units and to have that continued stability moving into the next set of power unit regulations is a key part of our on-going development.

“The relationship with Scuderia Ferrari has always been a special one to us – they were instrumental in the genesis of the program back in the early days and have continued to be a valuable technical partner to us throughout the past nine seasons.

“I’m delighted we now have more seasons ahead and my thanks go to Fred Vasseur and many others at Scuderia Ferrari for continuing to show faith in our project. This announcement is just another example of the long-term ambition of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team – our investment and growth in the sport continues.”

RACER understands that recent discussions regarding a potential collaboration between Haas and Toyota are unaffected by the Ferrari extension, with talks ongoing with the Japanese automotive company over future common ground.

Haas seeing team changes start to pay off

Gene Haas is hopeful that his team can consolidate its stronger position in Formula 1’s midfield after his decision to replace his team principal Guenther Steiner with Ayao Komatsu has been followed by a more competitive 2024 season. Steiner’s …

Steiner’s contract was not renewed at the end of last year, with Komatsu being promoted into the role ahead of the new season. After finishing at the bottom of the constructors’ championship in two of the last three years, it’s been a stronger campaign so far for Haas, with the team seventh in the standings after back-to-back sixth places for Nico Hulkenberg, and the team owner wants to cement that level of competitiveness.

“We got to this step on the mountain and we need to stay here for a while, not go back down the mountain,” Haas (pictured above) told SiriusXM. “We have good pace — our car’s not as fast as we could be or should be, but it’s as fast as we can be right now to be mid-pack. So if we can just stay there we’ll be in good shape.

“We’ll have some more upgrades coming during the year. The upgrades I think have been a lot more successful than in previous years, so hopefully that will keep us ahead of everybody else who we are racing.”

Haas says the decision to appoint a new team principal was an easy one despite Steiner having held the role since the team’s inception, saying the finishing positions had become tiresome.

“We did a lot of changes and the changes are working, so that’s good. It’s all good,” he said. “We had four years of almost being dead last, so that was enough to motivate me.”

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The American was present in both Austria and Great Britain to see the pair of sixth-place finishes for Hulkenberg, and was pleased with the way his team took its opportunities, although he admitted it was bittersweet given that Hulkenberg will be leaving at the end of the season.

“It’s a good feeling. I think we kind of paced ourselves — right tire selections, right pit calls and everything else,” Haas said. “It’s all important — we didn’t make any mistakes.

“[Hulkenberg] gets every bit out of the car; we know that that’s about as fast as the car can go when he drives it. Things change, you just get used to it in racing.”

Komatsu promises Haas driver news coming ‘soon’

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says there will be news about the future driver line-up “soon,” with two vacancies still to be filled for 2025. The driver market has slowed down in recent months, with Nico Hulkenberg’s future move from Haas to …

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says there will be news about the future driver line-up “soon,” with two vacancies still to be filled for 2025.

The driver market has slowed down in recent months, with Nico Hulkenberg’s future move from Haas to Stake the last change announced in Miami. Since then there’s been the confirmation of Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll all staying with their current teams, but with Hulkenberg to replace and Kevin Magnussen out of contract, Komatsu says Haas will finalize at least one of those seats in the near future.

“The decision is not made over one race,” Komatsu told SiriusXM about Magnussen’s future. “It’s made over the course of the season, or what he has been doing for us for the last two and a half seasons, or even more.

“Of course there’s no complaints [in Austria]; his race was amazing. His sprint race was amazing, his qualifying was strong, and then the race was great. It’s a great result for Kevin as well as the team.”

With Oliver Bearman carrying out plenty of FP1 running for Haas and a heavy favorite for a drive in 2025, Magnussen is facing competition from the likes of Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas for his place. Pushed on when one of the seats will be announced, Komatsu added: “You will find out soon!”

Magnussen scored points in eighth place in the Austrian Grand Prix behind teammate Nico Hulkenberg in sixth, giving Haas its best return since the same event in 2022. Hulkenberg passing by Perez on the final lap and then re-passing the Red Bull driver, led Komatsu to admit it was a result beyond his hopes.

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“Absolutely not sixth and eighth,” he said. “Obviously our target was always to score with both cars, so ninth and tenth we were going for. Honestly, especially with Nico holding off Perez in those closing moments on merit, it was unbelievable. I’m so happy for everyone in the team.

“We knew that Perez was going to have two goes at it, because of course everybody listens to everyone else’s team radios, right? Nico was clever enough to know that was the opportunity out of Turn 3 and into Turn 4, so he just judged it to perfection. Absolutely amazing.

“You can see from the pace in the last part of the first stint…that our pace was similar to Perez, so if [there was] similar tire age, I knew we could fight. But…to be fighting against a Red Bull, what more can you ask for?

“I’m pretty happy. The strategy was good and communication was pretty good. We had that close moment after the first round of pit stops where Kevin overtook Nico and Nico locked up and again we handled that very well. Straight afterwards we addressed it.

“Even when we were stuck behind Max’s car in the second stint, we were a lap behind but we were stuck. Again, Kevin came closer, but we said, ‘No, you are not fighting each other; just look after your tires.’ We just worked as a team very well and execution was good, communication was good. I’m just so happy with this result for everyone in the team.”

Haas responds to Steiner legal action with book lawsuit

Haas and its former team principal Guenther Steiner are involved in multiple legal battles after different lawsuits were brought from each side. Steiner was the first to bring a lawsuit against his former team following his departure at the start of …

Haas and its former team principal Guenther Steiner are involved in multiple legal battles after different lawsuits were brought from each side.

Steiner was the first to bring a lawsuit against his former team following his departure at the start of this year, initiating legal action over alleged breach of contract over unpaid commissions from the final three years of his employment. In that suit – filed in Mecklenberg in North Carolina – Steiner also claims that Haas has profited from his connections and knowledge, as well as continued to to use his name, image, and likeness in its promotional materials and merchandise.

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“With decades in motorsport and connections throughout the Formula 1 circuit, Mr. Steiner brought instant credibility to Haas F1 as team principal,” the suit read. “When Netflix’s award-winning series Drive to Survive debuted, Mr. Steiner’s notoriety and personality quickly propelled Haas F1 to fan-favorites in the series, and in the process, transformed Haas F1 from an upstart racing team to formidable brand on the F1 circuit.”

Now, Haas Automation, the parent company that is the title sponsor of the F1 team, has launched a lawsuit of its own alleging trademark infringement in the sale of Steiner’s book ‘Surviving to Drive’.

The lawsuit brought against Steiner and Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California claims Steiner did not have consent to use Haas Automation trademarks in the book, and that it could lead to confusion about any affiliation or sponsorship of the book.

“In 2023, without permission or consent from Haas Automation, Steiner authored, marketed, promoted, sold, distributed, and profited from a publication titled ‘Surviving to Drive’ (the ‘Accused Product’), which unlawfully used and displayed, and continues to use and display, the Haas Automation Trademarks and the Haas Automation Trade Dress for Steiner’s personal financial gain and illicit profit,” Haas Automation’s document states.

“Haas Automation never consented to Steiner’s use of the Haas Automation Trademarks or the Haas Automation Trade Dress on the Accused Product.”

Magnussen nearing race ban after latest Miami GP penalty

Kevin Magnussen is on the verge of a race ban after picking up another penalty in the Miami Grand Prix. Saturday’s sprint race saw Magnussen pick up three penalty points for repeat offenses when fighting with Lewis Hamilton, having already earned a …

Kevin Magnussen is on the verge of a race ban after picking up another penalty in the Miami Grand Prix.

Saturday’s sprint race saw Magnussen pick up three penalty points for repeat offenses when fighting with Lewis Hamilton, having already earned a time penalty that was going to drop him out of the top eight. Then on Sunday, Magnussen was deemed to be wholly to blame for causing a collision with Logan Sargeant, sending the Williams out of the race, and earning another two penalty points.

The penalties over the Miami weekend lead to five points, and with Magnussen also earning five across incidents in Saudi Arabia and China — for colliding with Yuki Tsunoda on each occasion — he is now on 10 penalty points since early March. Two further points between now and 9 March 2025 — the date one year from the first incident — would trigger an automatic one-race ban for the Haas driver.

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Explaining the latest decision, the stewards pointed to the fact that Magnussen was not far enough alongside Sargeant to be entitled to racing room.

“Per the Driving Standards Guidelines, in order for car No. 20 to be given room for an overtaking attempt on the outside, car No. 20 needed to have the front axle at least alongside the front axle of the other car at the apex of Turn 2.

“It was clear that car No. 20 did not have its front axle in that position such that it was entitled to room in that corner. Further, if this is looked at purely as an overtaking on the inside of Turn 3, car No. 20 would also not have had the right to the corner, by the standards for an inside overtake.

“Even if this was viewed as a sequence of corners or a chicane, the decision remains the same. Per the guidelines, priority will be given to the first corner and if you do not have the right to be given room, then you do not get the benefit for the next corner.”

Should Magnussen miss a race at any point this season, Haas can call on either Ollie Bearman or Pietro Fittipaldi as its reserve drivers.

Magnussen says Hulkenberg didn’t play team game in Miami sprint

Kevin Magnussen says his multiple penalties in the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix were justified as he protected Nico Hulkenberg, but felt his teammate instigated the situation himself. Hulkenberg and Magnussen were running in seventh and eighth …

Kevin Magnussen says his multiple penalties in the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix were justified as he protected Nico Hulkenberg, but felt his teammate instigated the situation himself.

Hulkenberg and Magnussen were running in seventh and eighth early on in the Sprint, keeping Hamilton at bay outside of the points in the shorter race. However, once Hulkenberg pulled more than a second clear of Magnussen, he lost DRS and was struggling to keep Hamilton at bay, receiving multiple penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage or exceeding track limits in his battle.

“They were fair; all the penalties were fair,” Magnussen said after picking up a total of 35s of time penalties across four different incidents. “But I had to do my thing to protect Nico, make the space, same story as Jeddah.

“So I got some penalties, we got some points as a team. It kind of sucks for me because I think we probably could have just finished there, both cars, had we played the game together, kept me in the DRS, but Nico cut the chicane at one point and broke the DRS. Then I was vulnerable to Lewis, started fighting with him, lost ground to Nico and that was it.

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“I had to play the sporting game not to have him be overtaken as well. Not the way I want to go racing, but what I had to do.”

Hamilton was involved in contact with the Aston Martins at the start of the race and then was left frustrated by Magnussen’s defense, although he later received a retrospective drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane that demoted him from eighth at the checkered flag to 16th place.

“I feel OK,” Hamilton said. “It’s obviously tough battling out there. Of course Turn 1 wasn’t intentional to be touching with anyone, but everyone’s pushing as much as possible. I went for a gap but I think those guys went wide and then came back across so that’s kind of where we connected.

“And then after that was just fighting, trying to get past [the Haas cars]. It was really tough battling, but I would just enjoy that I was racing. I wasn’t going backwards at least. The penalty, definitely it sucks, but it’s one point.”

Komatsu still expects Haas to be at the back in Bahrain

New team principal Ayao Komatsu says Haas expects to still be at the back of the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix because it lost so much development time with the VF-24 (pictured above). Haas had a quick car in qualifying last year but was struggling …

New team principal Ayao Komatsu says Haas expects to still be at the back of the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix because it lost so much development time with the VF-24 (pictured above).

Haas had a quick car in qualifying last year but was struggling for race pace, and opted to follow the widely adopted Red Bull concept of aerodynamic package in the latter half of the year. A major upgrade was introduced at the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas that ultimately didn’t improve car performance, and while Komatsu says that provided valuable data he also points to the impact it had on work for the 2024 car.

“Out of the gates in Bahrain … I still think we’re going to be towards the back of the grid, if not last,” Komatsu said. “Since I’ve become team principal, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to managers — both in the UK and Italy — and they’re excited because it’s an opportunity to improve and there are areas of improvement everywhere.

“The reason our launch-spec car is not going to be quick enough in Bahrain is not because of the quality of the people we have here, but it’s because we started late and then we stopped for two months to do the Austin upgrade. It really diverted resource, so we lost time there, but the team is finding good gains in the wind tunnel so that’s positive and in terms of characteristics, it’s going in the right direction.”

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In explaining his hopes for how car development will move Haas forward during the season, Komatsu was critical of how the team’s upgrade plans have been handled in the past.

“The focus is to have a good test program for Bahrain so that we come away from the test having quality data for the team to analyze and understand which direction to develop the car. This means understanding the strength and weakness of the VF-24 accurately, then put a coherent plan together to produce updates on the car, which hasn’t happened previously.

“Drivers will play a stronger role too. Last year, in terms of subjective feedback from drivers, their understanding of what the weakness of the car was clear; however, we weren’t then able to reflect that in our car development program. With the changes we made in the team, we aim to address this issue with our drivers more in the loop of development paths so that nothing gets lost.

“As engineers we have all the data from many sensors, but the one thing we can’t do is drive the car and feel what’s going on. So, we’ve got to be able to understand and react to drivers’ feedback better.”

Haas kicks off F1 launch season with VF-24

Haas has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal its 2024 car with the digital launch of the VF-24 ahead of its shakedown at Silverstone on Feb. 11. The new car was only shown via digital renders released by Haas on Friday, with an evolutionary …

Haas has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal its 2024 car with the digital launch of the VF-24 ahead of its shakedown at Silverstone on Feb. 11.

The new car was only shown via digital renders released by Haas on Friday, with an evolutionary approach to the car that was developed last season and a similar tweak to the predominantly black livery. New team principal Ayao Komatsu says the car is not a radical departure that is likely to move the team rapidly forward, but hopes it provides a platform for progress.

“We’re realistic about our expectations for the VF-24 to start but it’s still an exciting moment in any Formula 1 season to showcase the car,” Komatsu said. “There’s a lot of work ahead of us to make progress and increase our performance but everyone here is highly motivated and eager to get on track with the VF-24.

“I know we’ll be maximizing our time in Bahrain with all the various items we need to push through. Bottom line, we can’t wait to get going and get the season underway.”

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Komatsu says the 2024 car is a further step on from the upgraded design that was introduced at the United States Grand Prix last October, with bigger changes able to be made under the bodywork.

“In terms of physical changes, as everyone knows, when we made the upgrade in Austin that was the concept towards this year’s car — but because we had the physical limitation of the side impact structure, rad-duct arrangement, and cooling arrangement, we couldn’t do the full-blown VF-24-type-concept. I knew exactly where we were going for this year, but everyone saw a preview in Austin.”

Haas finished bottom of the constructors’ championship last season and the result led to Guenther Steiner’s departure as team principal, with team owner Gene Haas keen to measure any improvements through the season.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the VF-24 running and racing — a sentiment I know I share with our partners and indeed the entire team,” Haas said. “In Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, we also know we’ve got a great pair of drivers behind the wheel, their experience will prove invaluable again as we develop our program through the year.

“We’ve used the off-season to put the processes in place to be better and ultimately improve our overall performance. Soon we get to see how we’re doing.”