Haas become first team to launch 2024 F1 car with new black livery for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen | F1 News
Haas got F1 launch season under way by revealing a new predominantly black livery for their 2024 car on Friday but the team are already downplaying their expectations.
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will drive the new car, which is an evolution from last season’s machine that finished bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.
A disappointing 2023 campaign led to a change of team principal for Haas, with the hugely popular Guenther Steiner making way for Ayao Komatsu, who was promoted from his previous position as director of engineering.
Haas have confirmed Andrea De Zordo has been promoted from chief designer to technical director ahead of the new season, with Damien Brayshaw becoming performance director to oversee the direction of the car’s development.
“Out of the gates in Bahrain I still think we’re going to be towards the back of the grid, if not last,” said Komatsu.
“Since I’ve become team principal, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to managers – both in the UK and Italy – and they’re excited because it’s an opportunity to improve and there are areas of improvement everywhere.
New Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says he has ‘huge respect’ for his predecessor Guenther Steiner, but insists he will bring his own qualities to the role.
“The reason our launch-spec car is not going to be quick enough in Bahrain is not because of the quality of the people we have here, but it’s because we started late and then we stopped for two months to do the Austin upgrade.
“It really diverted resource, so we lost time there, but the team is finding good gains in the wind tunnel so that’s positive and in terms of characteristics, it’s going in the right direction.”
How Austin upgrade affected 2024
Haas’ only major upgrade came at the United States Grand Prix in October but it didn’t work as intended with Magnussen and Hulkenberg both finishing outside of the points, even with the disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Hulkenberg went back to the previous specification, which underlined Haas didn’t get the results the expected from the new package. By working on the Austin upgrade, it has set the team back going into this season.
However, Komatsu says the team gathered good data from the final races of the season and are looking to bring upgrades early in the new campaign, which begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on February 29 to March 2.
Haas’ best season came in 2018 when they finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship
“The focus is to have a good test program for Bahrain so that we come away from the test having quality data for the team to analyse and understand which direction to develop the car,” he continued.
“This means understanding the strength and weakness of the VF-24 accurately, then put a coherent plan together to produce updates on the car, which hasn’t happened previously.
“Drivers will play a stronger role too. Last year, in terms of subjective feedback from drivers, their understanding of what the weakness of the car was clear, however, we weren’t then able to reflect that in our car development program.
In a Sky Sports exclusive, former team principal Guenther Steiner explains how his departure from Haas came about and admits he has to accept the decision.
“With the changes we made in the team, we aim to address this issue with our drivers more in the loop of development paths so that nothing gets lost.
“As engineers, we have all the data from many sensors, but the one thing we can’t do is drive the car and feel what’s going on. So, we’ve got to be able to understand and react to drivers’ feedback better.”
Pressure building at Haas after Steiner exit
It’s fair to assume that there will be less swearing in the Haas garage this year 2024, but in fairness to former team boss Steiner, there was plenty of reason to be angry last season.
The VF-23’s inability to look after its tyres made life very difficult for Magnussen and Hulkenberg, particularly on a Sunday.
While Hulkenberg was often impressive in qualifying, the German was able to seal just one points finish in a full race, which was a seventh place in Australia heavily aided by retirements elsewhere. Hulkenberg’s other points came when he took advantage of wet conditions to take sixth in the Austrian GP Sprint.
Magnussen being unable to keep pace with a team-mate who had been without a drive for three years came as something as a surprise, but the Dane did grind out three 10th-place finishes.
Hulkenberg needs to prove he can handle the latest generation of F1 car on a Sunday, while Magnussen will need to improve in all aspects if he is to remain in the sport beyond this year.
Watch back Guenther Steiner’s best bits from his final season as Haas boss.
When is F1 pre-season testing?
Pre-season testing takes place from Wednesday February 21 to Friday February 23 at the Bahrain International Circuit with just three days for the teams to get prepared for the new season.
When is the first F1 race?
Just one week later, the opening race of the 2024 season will begin with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29 to March 2.
Due to the Muslim holy period of Ramadan, the Bahrain and, seven days later, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, will be held on a Saturday.
This means practice one and two will take place on Thursdays, with final practice and qualifying on Fridays.
24 races in 2024! Watch every round of next season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29-March 2. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership
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