Not once in Haas’ brief Formula 1 history has it previously found itself without a point after two grands prix – but that’s where it finds itself in 2020 after back-to-back events in Austria.
Neither Kevin Magnussen nor Romain Grosjean reached the finish of the opening round while the duo finished 12th and 13th in the second event at the Red Bull Ring.
In qualifying trim Haas has found itself towards the rear of the field, along with Alfa Romeo, tallying with suggestions that Ferrari has lost the power advantage it had in 2019, especially on one-lap pace.
But the Hungaroring, venue for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, is a circuit that places a much greater emphasis on downforce, with less reliance on pure power.
“On tracks like [the Red Bull Ring] the pecking order is pretty clear, we are in the latter half of the field, but I want to see on tracks like Hungary – slower tracks basically where we don’t have the long straights – how we do there,” said Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.
“I think we can gain something there, because in Barcelona testing we were quicker than we were in Austria compared to other people.
“Obviously, we’re not on the top of the midfield, we’re in the second part, we just need to get better as we go along and get more out of the car.
“Hopefully some of the tracks coming, they’ll help us as they’re a little less power sensitive.”
Haas thrived in qualifying last year but often slipped back in race trim – yet this season the early feedback has suggested that the opposite is now the case.
“I think the race performance, from the Austrian to the Styrian Grand Prix, was more or less the same,” said Magnussen.
“That was good as the car was actually pretty strong in race condition at the Austrian Grand Prix.
“But obviously we had the brake problem that hindered our performance there – which we didn’t then have as bad at the Styrian Grand Prix.
“I think generally the car is very good in race conditions, especially compared to qualifying trim. Qualifying is really where we need to focus because the race performance is decent.”
