Mid-season review: Haas remains desperate for 2022 after a difficult first half of the season

Mid-season rating: four out of ten.

Start of the Formula 1 season 2021 Uralkali Haas F1 Team knew they would compete against it after the team decided not to put any development into their 2021 car and instead focus on 2022. Team boss Günther Steiner would have been fully aware of the difficulties ahead. The season so far has been perhaps even more difficult than the team with rookie drivers could imagine Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin as the only driver on the grid not to get a point. In a predicted, challenging season for the Haas team and both drivers, however, there have been some positive aspects from the season so far.

The biggest plus of all is the outstanding work of 2020 Formula 2 world champion Mick Schumacher, son of the great Michael sSchumacher. The German driver was quickly recognized as Haas’ number one driver after outperforming his teammates in every race. The rookie has finished every race so far this season in an incredible performance, considering he drives the most demanding car on the grid. His performances even got the attention of Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binottowho is dying to see Schumacher stay with Haas in 2022.

Schumacher’s best result of the season so far was an impressive twelfth place in the chaotic Hungarian Grand Prixwhere he showed he’s not afraid to fight the best after facing a wounded man Max Verstappen. He even made an appearance in the second qualifying, so to speak! The German crashed one lap on in his final qualifying round French Grand Prixso that his car could not take part in the second qualifying. All in all, a lot of positive things for Schumacher from the first half of the season.

For Nikita Mazepin, his biggest plus of the season so far comes more off the beaten track than on the track. The Russian started the season due to a social media breakdown caused by a video he posted that contained behavior that was not acceptable to anyone, especially someone in the privileged position of himself as a Formula 1 driver is located. There have been calls from the Formula 1 community for Mazepin to be dropped by Haas, with a lot of negativity directed against the team via social media comments.

Even so, Steiner said the team would stay with Mazepin and give him the training he needs to improve as a person and understand how he behaves on social media. It seems the team is keeping their word or the Haas marketing team deserves a raise! Mazepin has gone from being a fan’s worst nightmare to being a fan favorite for some. It seems that the Russian has changed his mindset, the level mentality that Mazepin displayed in Formula 2 has been replaced with a friendly, fun character who appears on the team’s social accounts and in pre-race television productions. much more often.

Mazepin may be gaining popularity off the track, but it’s different on the track. The Russian rookie has definitely not made himself popular with his fellow drivers this season after violating blue flags several times. The most notable come from the Spanish Grand Prix, the Russian stopped the eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton during his pursuit of Verstappen. He also stopped Sergio Perez at the back of the Grand Prix of Portugal, to the frustration of the Mexican.

Mazepin clearly took longer to get up to speed in Formula 1 compared to his teammate, but he has shown some signs of improvement, especially in qualifying. At the start of the championship in Bahrain, Mazepin qualified 4.2 seconds behind pole-setter Verstappen, in the last race in Hungary he was only 3.5 seconds behind pole time. The rookie is clearly going in the right direction, but on a Sunday it counts and his best race so far is 14th place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Much like his team-mate, Mazepin can take away a lot of positive things from the season so far.

While the car is the hardest-to-handle car on the grid, there are many positives for the Haas side, but as the score of four suggests, there are plenty of negatives too.

The biggest problem the team has faced this season is how bad the car is. Haas is now the only team this season that hasn’t scored a point since Williams Racings huge loot in Hungary. It leaves the team on the verge of lag this season with Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Now, with three points, he’s the next team closest to Haas. The team is hoping for more chaotic races in the second half of the season, like the race at Hungary. If not, the team will have its worst result since entering Formula One. Without the development of the car, could you really have expected something different in 2021?

Of course, last place with the designers means that Haas would receive the lowest amount of money at the end of the season. The only thing you don’t want to do based on this very likely outcome is a crash. Unfortunately for Günther Steiner, the rookies did a lot. Mazepin fell in the opening race in Bahrain and has since had several spins and collisions with the guardrail. Schumacher on the other hand, apart from a collision with the wall at Imola, got through the races relatively cleanly, unfortunately the same cannot be said for Schumacher about his three free practice performances.

The German has missed two qualifying sessions this season, most recently in Hungary and also in Monaco after a serious crash late in the last practice session, so that the team didn’t have enough time to repair the car. Both drivers may need to learn when to push, especially when they are not only behind the wheel of the slowest, but also the most difficult-to-control car of the season. Steiner also did not cope with the falls well, the team boss recently told the press that he had reached his tolerance limit. Haas is nowhere near the richest team in the paddock, which means that every crash is very expensive for the team’s budget.

All in all, it was a challenging start to life in Formula 1 for Schumacher and Mazepin, but despite all the negative aspects, both have reason to be somewhat happy in the second half of the season. With the team putting so much focus on developing in 2022, next season they should be back in the midfield, where they belong, giving the team and the drivers something to look forward to.

Before that, however, they still have a lot of races and since Alfa Romeo is only on three points despite a much stronger car, Haas has a chance of not finishing last, which could be crucial for the team’s budget and also a big shock. Both drivers have to keep their heads down and, most importantly, keep their car out of the wall, unless they want to face Steiner’s wrath!

Credit: Haas F1 Media