What Went Wrong with Haas in the Australian GP Qualifying After a Brilliant Start to 2022: An F1 Fan’s Opinion
Follow Us
Haas
As the Qualifying Session for the 2022 Australian Grand Prix wraps up, we get to take away some important observations. While McLaren appears to have finally cracked the code to get into the front few rows of the line once again, one team that disappointed its fans is Haas. The team, headed by Guenther Steiner, displayed some amazing performances in the first two races of this season. But in the Qualifiers in Melbourne, they fell short and could not even go into Q1. What could be the reason behind their fall from grace? With the dynamic pairing of Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen behind the wheels, Haas was expected to reap some good results in Australia, but they did go wrong somewhere.
The Haas F1 team went through a turmoil after the high-profile exit of Nikita Mazepin and Uralkali from the team due to the ensuing Ukraine-Russia conflict. And then they appointed former Haas racer Kevin Magnussen back to the grid and that has been one of the best decisions for the entire team. While Schumacher crashed out in the Qualifying Session at Saudi Arabia, Magnussen has put up a consistent performance with two top 10 finishes in the first two races of the season. He ended Haas’ 609-day-long wait for a top 10 finish and Haas has already scored more points in the first two races of this year than they did in all the races of the previous two seasons combined.
With 12 points in their bag, Haas went into the Australian GP with immense hopes of repeating their glorious feat. Fans started to believe Haas has come up to be a leading midfield team in the 2022 F1 season, at par with the likes of Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, and Aston Martin. But ever since the Free Practice sessions kicked off in Melbourne, Haas failed to impress on the track.
The general opinion: Haas got too confident about their speed
Fans were undoubtedly amazed to see Kevin Magnussen lock horns with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton for the ninth position in Saudi Arabia. When Magnussen won the race-long battle and outscored Hamilton, everyone at Haas was overjoyed. But maybe they got too confident too soon.
After such a brilliant finish in Jeddah, both the Haases fell to the back of the grid in FP1 in Australia. Admitting to the faults of the car, Gunther Steiner said, “[It was] not a perfect day for us with various issues, FP2 was already better than FP1, so we just need to work a little bit more.”
In today’s Qualifying session, much to everyone’s dismay, Haas continued to disappoint with a Q1 exit for Kevin Magnussen. While Mick Schumacher did manage to brush past Albon’s Williams to move into Q2, he could go no further than P15. This came as a shock for everyone who was rooting for Haas after their top 10 finishes in the previous two races.
It must not be forgotten that Melbourne is hosting its first Australian Grand Prix in two long years and a lot has changed in the race track since the last time Haas had raced here. While that might explain the reason behind their poor start to the Australian GP weekend, what remains to be seen is if they can bounce back and work towards the top of the grid once again during Sunday’s race.
Stay Updated!
Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)