Breaking news
Formula 1
Haas can avoid "big negative spiral" like Williams, McLaren
Haas Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen believes his team can bounce back from its poor 2019 showing and avoid the kind of "big negative spiral" that occurred at former powerhouses McLaren and Williams.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Published: Jan 27, 2020, 10:37 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Though Magnussen's sole F1 podium so far came with McLaren in Australia in 2014, this owed much to engine supplier Mercedes' initial dominance in the hybrid era - and the Woking-based team would only return to the rostrum five years later, with the intervening seasons proving very tough.
And while McLaren now seems on the way up, its fellow former top F1 outfit Williams has slumped to the very bottom of grand prix racing's pecking order, scoring just a handful of points across the past two seasons.
Heading into 2019, F1's newest team Haas had looked poised to fight at the front of the midfield, but its season unravelled dramatically and it ended up taking the penultimate spot in the constructors' championship, finishing closer to Williams' points tally than eight-placed Alfa Romeo's.
But though Magnussen accepts it's been "a difficult, difficult time", he stresses that 2019 marked "the first time that the team has gone backwards" and believes it shouldn't lose sight of its previous accomplishments since its 2016 debut.
"The first three years we took big steps forward," Magnussen told Motorsport.com. "Maybe it doesn't look so big, but actually going from P8 in the constructors to P5 in three years is pretty good.
"Like Toro Rosso, for example, have never finished in the top five. Never. They've won a race. They've got the podium a few times, and they've never been in the top five. [Haas'] third year, top five. So that's bloody impressive. And nobody seems to notice this.
"Generally it's just been such as pleasure, you know, getting to a team that was on the rise rather than on the fall. It's just a much more positive experience - growing, feeling the growth and the improvements and the excitement that all of this is happening.
Read Also:
"So then this year, we've taken a step back and you get that sense of the same feeling happening, people are starting to doubt themselves. But I think there's no reason to.
"It's hard to expect to only go forward all the time. As long as we don't get into this big negative spiral that some of the big teams have been [in], like McLaren, and Williams, where they've completely lost it and just spent many years going backwards - I don't think that's going to happen here.
"And that's part of that's one of the good things about being such a small and young team. We think we can turn the situation quicker and just get back on track. I'm very positive we can do that."
Magnussen had joined Haas from Renault back in 2017, and has been retained alongside Romain Grosjean - who has been part of the team's roster since the start - for the upcoming season.
Like his teammate, Grosjean believes Haas can take its disappointing season in its stride, as long as it's honest about its shortcomings.
He said: "We all need to be frank with ourselves and say: 'Look, what can we do better? where can we improve?' [What] was the area [that was] not the best - the drivers, engineers, management, communications, kitchen? Everyone in the team needs to look at themselves honestly and see what we can do better.
"If we can all do that, we can improve. We've learned so much this year, we have so much more data, ways of looking at things and I think it's going to be positive."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Gasly felt he had to disprove 'bullshit' claims about driving
Next article Renault firms up role and start date for Fry
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Haas F1 Team
Dropped Esteban Ocon defiant: Formula 1 is “where I belong”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Dropped Esteban Ocon defiant: Formula 1 is “where I belong”
Five contenders to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for F1 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
Five contenders to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for F1 2027
You Ask The Questions: Esteban Ocon
Formula 1
Belgian GP
You Ask The Questions: Esteban Ocon
Latest news
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 2 h
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 4 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 4 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe