Will Haas End Their F1 See Saw in 2020?

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has set down a clear agenda for the team in 2020. Steiner was unimpressed with the team’s performance in 2019 and is hoping Haas can challenge the midfield.

Steiner’s target for Haas F1

Guenther is one of the most popular team principals in the F1 paddock. The Italian became a fan favourite, following his appearance in the Netflix series Formula One: Drive To Survive. The Italian’s unfiltered outbursts and straight-talking attitude has earned him superstardom in the paddock.

Haas had their best season in F1 in 2018. The American team finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, in only their third season in Formula One.

Despite the team’s strong showing, Steiner’s sky-high expectations were revealed in the Netflix documentary. The Italian’s meme-worthy reactions to the team’s debacles were one of the show’s highlights.

Fans are eagerly awaiting Steiner’s reaction to the team’s disastrous campaign in 2019 in the second season of the documentary.

The American team finished a lowly ninth position in 2019, scoring a mere 28 points. The fault was mainly in the team’s car, which suffered from serious aero flaws.

Additionally, the VF19 struggled with tyres on race days. That resulted in the team running two cars with different specifications with each driver. One with the latest upgrades, and the other with the original package.

Unfortunately for Haas – both cars failed miserably, which resulted in the team languishing at the bottom of the pack.

Speaking to GPBlog, Steiner said:

“We’re slowly getting to see where we stand. We’re just waiting to jump to conclusions. We don’t know what ‘fast’ is. All cars are faster, but in terms of speed it’s hard to say.”

“There is no target, like fifth or sixth, we want to be better and more consistent than last year. The target for this year is back to basic, less up and downs and more solid performance.” 

If I were Romain Grosjean or Kevin Magnussen, the last thing I would do is annoy Guenther Steiner. The duo has the experience of facing Steiner’s wrath and would be hoping to avoid an encore.

Haas has had a positive preseason test so far. The American team aren’t breaking lap times, but are getting on with testing as expected. Save for a few minor incidents, Haas may finally be back on track.