Has The Haas VF-22 Turned A Corner?

Perhaps it won’t be wrong to say Haas’ fortunes have changed, where the current season stands, much like the split second changes that Formula 1 is known for. In a sport where you can never be sure about what the next lap may produce- whether redemption or disaster- it’s not too off the mark to suggest that one didn’t see Haas making headlines the way the team is this year.

How has the American team come a long way?

And that isn’t some random claim or irrelevant speak; for a team that had failed to score any points whatsoever in the last season, Haas have come a long way.

Even though only two races have been rendered complete this new season, the American-owned marquee has been hanging out in the front of the midfield in 2022, shedding its back-of-the-grid position, where one found it stationed for the better part of the previous world championship.

And in that regard, it’s not difficult to see just what has made the difference, whether one speaks about the smiling Gunther Steiner or the man behind the emphatic return to F1: Kevin Magnussen.

It’s the VF 22. Clearly, there’s ought to be something stellar about the white and blue-liveried car that has made the drivers, in particular, Magnussen, such a standout. So what is it? How come the team that, back in 2021, finished even behind Alfa Romeo (who scored 13 points), is currently hanging out on fifth (P5) with twelve points?

No race wins, no podiums secured from either of the two races held this year either- Haas have turned around a corner of sorts and will be gung-ho about the fast approaching Australian Grand Prix, a circuit where the team and its drivers will hope to make most of a track that aids high downforce.

In a recent media interaction, the team’s senior design engineer Andrea De Zordo made some interesting observations about the VF 22 that drive home some relevant points about the car. So what were those?

It seems since when we started to use it, it was quite easy to drive.

“The drivers look quite comfortable with it, and even when we haven’t really done a lot of laps, we discovered that it was easy for them to find the lap time. So I think the strength is the fact that drivers have found it quite easy to drive.”

That being told, even intricate performers for the team, take Magnussen himself, for example, have maintained that the car’s balance feels really ‘good,’ perhaps one of the reasons why both Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen feel comfortable in pushing the 2022 challenger to the limit.

What ought to be reminded, ever so politely, is that it is in a Haas VF 22 that Mick Schumacher went on to register his best-ever F1 result; an eleventh collected at the season-opening Bahrain GP.

What Has Worked For Haas?

Furthermore, De Zordo added the following key insights on just what’s made the difference this year around, “

So, even just knowing the car better, we think that we have still more to come from it even without development.

“Now, we are very focused in trying to understand as much as possible the baseline car, and bring the maximum from it