Yahoo Autos Imperfect Storm: Nightmare Points Day for Haas F1 Team in Brazil
The F1 Brazilian Grand Priz wasn’t quite a worst case scenario for the American Haas F1 Team, but it wasn’t far off.
Haas had been solidly sixth-best team this season, but Alpine’s mega haul of a second- and third-place finish in Brazil means Haas has now slipped to seventh in the championship. And, with a strong day from RB, Haas now faces pressure from the Faenza-based team.
Haas' Ollie Bearman, standing in for the ill Kevin Magnussen, had a litany of mistakes in his first wet race and came home 12th. Nico Hulkenberg spun off and was excluded having received outside assistance—having been pushed by marshals—when he re-joined the track, which is against the rules.
“It’s been a very tough day for the team, we didn’t perform today, and others scored heavily,” Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said. “Operationally, we didn’t maximize everything here so that’s something we need to take home and review.
"A slight positive was that Ollie’s pace on inters—and part of the race with Nico—was actually better than what we thought we could achieve, so that’s a small positive that we can improve the performance of the intermediates. We have to look ahead for the last three races; we have decent pace in the dry, so we need to reset and refocus. We need to get the best out of the car and everyone for the next three.”
Bearman conceded that “there were too many mistakes from my side” but tried to look on the positives, commenting “I’ve learned the track, something I wasn’t going to be doing before next year, and of course racing in these conditions, it’s rare, so that was really valuable.”
Hulkenberg called it a “a very tough and disappointing weekend” for Haas.
F1 Constructors' Championship Standings
McLaren 593
Ferrari 557
Red Bull 544
Mercedes 382
Aston Martin 86
Alpine 49
Haas 46
RB 44
Williams 17
Kick Sauber 0
