So is Formula 1-season 2019 finally over. ‘Finally’, because it is seen with Danish eyes has been a long, frustrating and not particularly fun roller coaster ride with a few peeks and too many lows.
Kevin Magnussen started the season promising, as he is in the new Haas VF19 came to finish in sixth place in this year’s first grandprix in Australia…
… but already after the second race in Bahrain, it was clear that the VF19 had a built-in problem, and it was only worse as the one in Barcelona in may and in Hockenheim in July came with new updates to the car.
Updates, which is developing the car in the course of the season, has always been Haas’ weak point. In either 2016, 2017 or 2018 was the development programme on a level with those of its competitors and, therefore, was the second sæsonhalvdel always worse than the first.
It would change in the year in which the development programme was far more ambitious. But it also proved to be too ambitious for the small team as Haas. Gencobahis Instead of making VF19 better did the comprehensive Barcelona and Hockenheim-updates real the car slower.
instead of solving the built-in aerodynamic problem that plagued the VF19 from the start of the season, they sought with still more new solutions. At last the confusion (some in the team have used the word ‘panic’!) closest to the total. And you ended the season – after through nine months to have developed and tested a number of costly updates – with the car in the original Melbourne-specifications.
In many months got the tires to blame, but the other nine teams had the exact same tires. In the course of the autumn acknowledged Haas-the management and the engineers that it was an aerodynamic problem, which meant that Magnussen and teamkammerat Romain Grosjean rarely were competitive. Haas concludes constructor-the WORLD cup 2019 in the ninth – and næstsidstepladsen.
It is a sharp fall from last year’s fifth place finish. How could it go so wrong?
It’s all about Haas’ lack of resources. As the smallest team had but not the research and development department to be able to recognize and solve the aerodynamic problem. Jo – the end of the year, one could fairly point to what the problem was, but then it was too late to fix it.
In a large, well-established team had much earlier found a solution. And you had the energy to listen more to the drivers that much earlier than the engineers realized that updatene did not work as intended.
So now Magnussen and co. on towards 2020. You have diagnosed the VF19-the problem and ensure that it will not be brought over to the new 2020. Therefore, I believe in significant progress for the Haas F1 Team in 2020: the Team has before shown that they can be in the ‘best of the rest’fight.
And they are really good to have a fast car ready from the start of the season. It must have again next year. And then 2020-the car just developed in a way, the team can handle.
Peter R.
B. T.’s Formula 1 correspondent. Educated cand. jur. in 1987, but has since worked in Formula 1 as a journalist. Every year, for all the Formula 1 races. A member of the Club 500 for the journalists who have attended more than 500 Formula 1 races. Holder of the Grand Prix Photo
