Ambitious Haas Refuses to Dwell Upon Small Wins of 2022 With Fresh Goals for the Future

The 2022 season saw the midfield teams and backmarkers in the same mix and it was anyone’s game. This past year, Haas showed some brilliance at the beginning of the season but quickly faded into oblivion. The American team secured eighth place in the fight between backmarkers. Though it is a cause for celebration for the team, which was 10th in 2021, Guenther Steiner and the team don’t think so.

All geared up, Haas has no time to waste. They have expanded their staff with a new base set up at Maranello. The former Ferrari chief designer Simone Resta came on board as the team’s technical director. The team boss, putting his full faith in Resta, thinks he was just what Haas was looking for to regain their 2018 glory.

The 2022 season seemed like the beginning of better days for the team, but Guenther Steiner is cautious to make predictions for 2023. “In 2018, we had a very good year, ‘19, our car was not up to what we wanted it to be. And then ‘20 came, we quite a few backward hits, I would say, in a very short period of time… And then we had to come up with ‘21 with having two rookie drivers. But now it is ’22, and we’ve made a big step. So I think in one or two years, our aim is to be where we left off in ’18.”

“As I say, I’m cautiously confident looking at next year that these guys did again a good job, but not because they just worked together for a year, they’re just getting better or the organization is getting better. They’re just more efficient, they know each other. They know their weak points, their good points, everything,” explained Steiner in the Beyond The Grid podcast.

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Haas made a move up the point table, thanks to the brilliance of Kevin Magnussen. His successful moves in the season made sure that the team was better placed, and proved that his second wave at the team was a triumphant story.

Second Time’s the Charm for the Kevin Magnussen – Haas Collab

The stars of the team began aligning again when they signed Kevin Magnussen at the last moment. The performance of the US-based outfit was so unexpected that it even shocked the team itself. Guenther was seen making remarks about the lengths he could have gone to for a couple of points in the previous seasons. 

K- Mag was a last-minute entry to the grid of 2022. But the more shocking bit was his pole position in Brazil GP. The heroics of Kevin Magnussen in the 2022 season not only ensured decent points grab for the Haas but also fetched him the prestigious Lorenzo Bandini Trophy. It was a win-win situation for both parties involved and proved to be a fairytale story of 2022. 

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The team has signed Nico Hulkenberg for the 2023 season marking his active return to the grid. Can his surprising return after what seemed like a permanent hiatus prove beneficial for the team? Do you think Guenther’s gamble will pay off?