Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images
With the grid headed to Las Vegas, Haas is set for their final home race of the season
As the only Formula 1 team on the grid with American roots, Haas F1 had the advantage of three home races during the 2023 season. Now, with the last of those races on tap, the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, the team is hoping to turn the opportunity into something critical for their season.
Points.
Haas enters the penultimate race of the 2023 F1 campaign in tenth place, four points behind Alfa Romeo, nine points behind AlphaTauri, and 16 points behind Williams in the four-way battle for seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship. Can they make up some of that ground in Sin City?
The first step in that effort: Running two different setups. Kevin Magnussen will be running the upgraded VF-23 the team brought to another home race, the United States Grand Prix in Austin. Nico Hülkenberg, however, will be running a version of the VF-23 from earlier in the season.
“The main drive behind this was Nico feels that for him the old spec suits him better, and Kevin is the opposite,” said Team Principal Guenther Steiner in the team’s media preview. “We’ve opted to give them what they want, we have two races to go and nothing to lose, so we’ve tried to do what we can. We could discuss gathering data, but we’ve got enough data, it’s a decision based on what each driver likes more than anything else. It puts them in a comfortable position so that they’re as happy as they can be with the car they get.”
As with the rest of the grid, Haas knows that tire management will be critical given the expected temperatures during qualifying and the Grand Prix itself.
But it may be a blessing in disguise for Haas, a team which has struggled with tire degradation all season long.
“The low temperatures are a challenge, as everyone knows you need to keep the tires higher than the minimum temperature, which is higher than five degrees [Celsius], so we always need to keep them a bit warmer, but it depends also a lot on the asphalt. It’s a combination of temperature and roughness of asphalt, but I don’t think degradation can get much worse for us than in Brazil,” added Steiner. “On Thursday, during practice, we’ll get to know the surface, the track, the temperature and then we’ll know more.”
Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images
“If it’s going to be that cold in the night, then getting the tires up to temperature is going to be very difficult,” added Magnussen. “We could see some spectacle – it’s going to be all about getting temperature in the tires. Downforce helps with that, so let’s see how we go.”
For both Steiner and the drivers, seeing a third race at home — and the continued growth of F1 in the United States — is fantastic.
“I think the US races are special, they’re the new races in the sport. In a way, the sport is new in the US, and they do it differently here,” said Magnussen. “It’s more of a show and there’s a special atmosphere here. Being the only American team, there’s extra pressure to do well, which is a good thing, and when we do score the points at those races, it’s very fulfilling.”
“We’ve been talking about this event all year, so I’m happy that it’s finally time to race in Vegas,” added Hülkenberg. “Another home race for the team and I’m keen to get a good result for us and our fans – it’s going to be tough, but you have to be ready to take a gamble in Sin City!”
For Steiner, who has become one of the most well-known personalities in the sport due to his star turn on the Netflix series Drive to Survive, the growth of the sport in the United States presents a unique opportunity for Haas, the sole “American” team.
“I think it’s fantastic to have three races in the States, especially as the American team. Five or 10 years ago, who’d have thought that we’d have more than one race in the US, now we’ve got three and they’re all very different events – as they would be if we were racing in different continents, not just country.
“I think it’s good for Formula 1 and the American fans who are coming more to watch and support. The standout point for me is the difference between each race. You go to Austin, which is a more ‘traditional’ race with lots of hardcore fans, and then you go to Miami where it’s party central, and then let’s see what Vegas brings,” added Steiner. “We know it won’t ever be sleeping and we’re racing at night, which is completely different again.”
We will see if Haas can manage their tire issues, and deliver a big result in their third home race of the season, later this week.
