AUSTIN — Haas arrived in Austin hoping to put on a good performance for their fans in their home race, the United States Grand Prix.
So far, so good.
Kevin Magnussen finished seventh, and Nico Hülkenberg came in behind him in eighth, giving Haas a double-points result in the F1 Sprint Race here at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
The team came to Austin optimistic that a set of upgrades would prove beneficial down the closing stretch, and the result here in the F1 Sprint Race would indicate that the new package is working. However, following the F1 Sprint Race in response to a question from SB Nation, Hülkenberg noted that Magnussen was not using the upgraded package yet, and even without it, both cars were strong.
“I mean it’s very positive, obviously, to score with both cars. But you see even not the upgraded car that Kevin drove is going pretty strong as well. So, I don’t think it’s a big factor,” said Hülkenberg. “But we look competitive, so hopefully we can continue that trend.”
Now the team faces a fascinating decision, whether to install the upgraded package on Magnussen’s car — and have him head into qualifying without having a chance to test the new components — or to keep things as they are.
Magnussen seemed of a split mind when speaking with the media, including SB Nation, following the F1 Sprint Race.
“That’s the plan [to switch to the new specification],” said Magnussen. “But I think that will be conversations after the race. We assume that the upgrade is better and the data is supporting that. But it’s still kind of a bit uncomfortable changing your car completely after two good sessions like this.”
Magnussen was then asked how tough it would be to enter qualifying later today with the upgraded package, and the driver outlined the tricky balance he would face.
“Even if you have more downforce with the upgraded car, you might fall out of your balance window, and going straight into qualifying, that’s not great.
“So it is a bit of a risk I would say, but we want that extra downforce and since the data is supporting that, I think we have to.”
Haas has little time to celebrate this double-points result, and even less time to make a decision regarding Magnussen’s VF-24, before Qualifying for the United States gets underway in just under three hours.