The Japanese Grand Prix had so much promise for the Haas F1 Team; however, it was once again a point-less occasion.
Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen both started the very wet race brilliantly and climbed up to tenth and twelfth respectively, before the red flag was flown on the second lap due to the intensity of the rainfall.
When the race resumed, drivers flooded their way into the pits for the Intermediate tyres, with the full Wets having been unsuitable for every single driver due to how slow the compound has proven to be. Alas, Haas decided to leave both drivers out a bit longer, a decision that proved costly. Magnussen was the first of the Haas drivers to pit and eventually went on to have an uneventful race in fourteenth place.
Schumacher was left out even longer and staggeringly led the race for roughly ten metres; however, he quickly tumbled down the order due to how slow the Wet compound was. This meant when the German did pit, he was last by some margin.
It was a disappointing outcome for Schumacher especially, with the under pressure driver having shown points worthy pace. Haas have now gone seven races without a points finish, as they continue to sit eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, considerably further behind the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team.
Haas boss Guenther Steiner admitted his side were “caught on out back foot” and revealed that a “review” will take place so that they “do better next time” in challenging conditions.
“We were caught on our back foot today with the strategy. We were too reactive and not proactive, and we ended up down the classification. It’s very difficult to make these decisions as we all know, and afterwards we’re always smarter with hindsight. We’ll review what we did and see that we do better next time.”
