Haas has become a diminishing entity in the world of Formula One for several seasons now. Debuting in 2018, the US-owned Haas has gone from top 4 contenders, to back of the pack scrappers, all in the space of 3 seasons. However, heading in 2021, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner decided to make no significant car developments and instead pool all available resources into 2022. Is it a touch of genius or does it mark the final nail in the coffin?
2022 signals a breath of fresh air for Haas and Guenther Steiner. Not only do the upcoming regulation changes promise to bring more dramatic racing back to Formula One, but could also significantly reshuffle the F1 food chain. So, whilst teams such as Mercedes and Red Bull continue to develop this year's car in their hopes to make their drivers world champions, Haas could have the capability to make a shock return to the top in 2022.
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| Romain Grosjean driving the VF-20 during the pre-season tests in Barcelona - Wikimedia Commons |
As every good architect knows, a great house always starts with solid foundations. In Formula One, the foundations of any team are their drivers and although there has been serious question marks surrounding Haas’ current lineup, their continuous development throughout this season have already began to turn some heads.
Racing in a car that was last significantly developed in 2020, both Schumacher and Mazepin have shown moments of ability in a Formula One car. As a direct successor of the sports most successful ever talent, Mick Schumacher has been consistant in his rookie season, beating out his team mate in every qualifying session this season so far and establishing himself as a premier talent moving foward. On the other hand, Nikita Mazepin has successfully recovered a slow start, piecing together moments of good racing against his closest rivals.
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| Nikita Mazepin (left) and Mick Schumacher (right) - planetf1.com |
With a former F2 World Champion and significant funding behind the wheel, Guenther Steiner’s decsion to scrap this season’s car development’s is nothing short of genius. Unlike other teams on the grid, Haas have got a head start in adapting their car to suit next years regulation changes. Not only does this mean they’ll have a deeper understanding of what’s to come, but the additional time compared to other constructers will allow them to test their new car a lot earlier than any other team on the grid. This grants them a huge advantage over the rest of the field and could see them moving further up the grid than most would suspect.
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