27/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Haas F1 Team is heading to the Hungaroring, Budapest, for Round 13 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
The Hungarian Grand Prix joined Formula 1's schedule in 1986, as new territories were explored, and the Hungaroring has since established itself as a mainstay on the calendar. Only Italy's Autodromo Nazionale Monza has a longer unbroken spell on Formula 1's roster. The circuit lies on the outskirts of capital city Budapest, which straddles the iconic Danube River, and features hilly and historic areas alongside vibrant districts that are often popular ahead of Formula 1's annual summer recess.
The Hungaroring is a tight and twisty venue, with an abundance of narrow medium-speed turns, and little in the way of lengthy full-throttle sections. That often places a greater emphasis on grid position, tire usage and race strategy. Hot conditions frequently influence proceedings but so to can central Europe's fickle summer storms. The races in 2020 and 2021 were both affected by wet weather that shook up the expected order and created suspenseful grands prix.
Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher have vast experience of the bowl-like Hungaroring. Magnussen has completed all six of his Hungarian grands prix entries, with a best of seventh in 2018, while Schumacher grabbed a season-best 12th at the event in his rookie 2021 championship.
Haas F1 Team enters the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final round prior to the summer recess, in seventh place in the Constructors' Championship, on 34 points.
The French Grand Prix, while in terms of Sunday's result wasn't what was hoped for, the event itself again had positives with pace and performance in the VF-22 - as demonstrated in qualifying and at the start of the race. What are your takeaways from the team's showing at Circuit Paul Ricard?
Guenther Steiner: "We know now where the car can be if we do a good job and I think in France we did a good job. Kevin had a penalty with the engine so he started from the back but he showed in qualifying what he could do and Mick did the same, but unfortunately he was a little bit too far out from where you need to be, so we started at the back end but in the first laps we made up a lot of positions. I think we had a very good strategy, also looking back at it now, and we knew that would give us our best chance at getting into the points but unfortunately the safety car came out at the most inconvenient time for both cars so from then on it was downhill. What we can take away is that if we can get the car in the right spot set-up wise, we can compete at the top of the midfield."
The VF-22 gets its first major upgrade package this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix. What can you share about the updates coming and the gains expected over what's now proved itself to be a solid base design over the first 12 races of the season?
GS: "As many people know, we waited a bit longer to bring our upgrade to track because I think we still have good pace. Now what we want to do is put performance on. What exactly it will do, I don't want to say because I don't want to jinx it, but we know what it should be doing from our development. We'll just have to wait and see what we can get out of the package.
"In the end, we couldn't get two car kits to the race track, so with Kevin being in front in the championship we gave him the package to try. Unfortunately we had a few delays in the development stage, so we postponed it from the French Grand Prix to Hungary. Also, with the spares situation we had at the beginning of the season, up to race seven or eight, we fell a bit behind in production and therefore we don't have enough parts for two cars. We struggle with spare parts for one car so hopefully we can get it done and bring it to Hungary.
"Everybody has worked really hard - the team and our suppliers - to make this happen so I'm still very happy that we bring it on one car to Hungary. We want to get some data before the summer break so we have something to work from when we get back, and if all goes well we'll have it on both cars."
With the Hungarian Grand Prix the final race before the mandatory FIA summer shutdown, can you share what your personal highlights have been from the first half of the 2022 season and what your hopes are for the second half?
GS: "I think the highlights were the start of the season - scoring sixth place in Bahrain and then after quite a few races where we didn't get any points to come back strong in Silverstone and Austria. They're my two highlights and hopefully we can keep it going once we come back, but first we have Hungary and we have to hope that we get something there. After the break I hope we can get into a groove and try to score points at every race."
What are your plans for the break in August - is there more epic mountain climbing on the horizon or are you looking at something a little more relaxing this time around?
GS: "I stay a little bit lower this year! I'm going to go and spend a few days in Tuscany with the family just to relax a little bit but otherwise I'll do some hiking, but I won't be going up that high this year. It's good to have a few weeks off and it's good for the whole team so we can get a bit of energy back to be strong for when we come back at the end of August."
Looking ahead, the schedule includes a triple-header immediately following the summer break, is that a positive to get back into the swing of things or would a more balanced return to racing be favorable to teams?
GS: "I think there is no ideal solution to a calendar like this. I think coming back and doing three races, the fortunate thing is that all three are in Europe, so some of the team can go back home between the races. It is what it is with the calendar at the moment and I'm not against it. The good thing is, if you look forward, that we will end the season in November. At least the team has December and it's not like the covid year of last season where we were working until the middle of December. The first three weeks will be tough but hopefully we are full of energy and we'll get some points."
Round 13 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship takes the pinnacle of motorsport to Hungary. The track - close to Budapest city center - is sweltering in July, it's notoriously difficult to overtake on and the cars run a high downforce aero set-up. How do you expect the VF-22 to manage in such conditions?
Kevin Magnussen: "It's going to be unbelievably hot by the looks of it and Hungary is a tough track, there's not much time to relax with the short straights. It's physically a tough race and with the heat that we're having in Europe, it's going to be extra tough. I think the car is going to be fine - I expect so any way - and it's been good on a big variety of different tracks."
Your best result in Hungary with Haas came in 2018, where you scored seventh place. Is there something specific about the track that you like and does it having many of the same features as a karting track help those muscle reflexes from years gone by?
KM: "I like the track, and it does have a go-kart track feel because it's always turning, it's never long straights. It's a fun track, it's difficult to overtake on, so you'll want to qualify well if you can. That's definitely the most important element of the weekend."
How would you sum up the first half of the season for yourself and the team? Is this where you expected to be at the beginning of the season and can you share your favorite and least fond memory from this half of the season?
KM: "The first half of the season has been a lot of fun. Of course, I had no expectations because I didn't know I was going to be racing, but it's been good. We've had a good car and there's been times where we didn't score the points that we could've when we had some bad luck in a string of races, but recently it's seeming that we've been a bit more lucky, and we've had a bit more fortune. My best memory would be the first race I would say, not only because it was so surprising to come back but also because we got a great result. Worst? I don't have any."
It's the final event before the summer break where the paddock gets some well-deserved rest before the second leg of the season. What's the first thing you're going to do after the race and what have you got planned for your break?
KM: "I'm definitely going to go sailing in Denmark with my family and get on the water, relax and switch off from racing."
Round 13 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship takes the pinnacle of motorsport to Hungary. The track - close to Budapest city center - is sweltering in July, it's notoriously difficult to overtake on and the cars run a high downforce aero set-up. How do you expect the VF-22 to manage in such conditions?
Mick Schumacher: "I expect us to be actually pretty strong here. We were strong last year to an extent, and I feel comfortable going there, it's always nice and warm, and I think it will be pretty good for our car."
The Hungarian Grand Prix is where you achieved your best finish of the year last season, is there something specific about the track that you like and does it having many of the same features as a karting track help those muscle reflexes from years gone by?
MS: "It's pretty short, there's a lot of laps and a lot of corners so there's little opportunity to rest, which means concentration levels have to be pretty high. I always enjoy going there, I enjoyed it throughout F2 and F3, so I'm looking forward to going back and hopefully getting a strong result this year."
How would you sum up the first half of the season for yourself and the team? Is this where you expected to be at the beginning of the season and can you share your favorite and least fond memory from this half of the season?
MS: "I think after the first race we were expecting to be a lot further up in the rankings than what we are at the moment but we're slowly catching up and I think having a strong end to the season is just as valuable as having a strong start. Unfortunately, we missed out on the start but now we can redeem ourselves and have a good end to the season. My favorite moment so far would be Austria. Obviously, it was a lot of fun being so competitive and fighting with so many great drivers out there and sometimes coming out on top. I would say there's no such thing as least favorite moment, most of them I would call learning moments instead, so you just go through the experience and all of them make you a better driver, so I value them."
It's the final event before the summer break where the paddock gets some well-deserved rest before the second leg of the season. What's the first thing you're going to do after the race and what have you got planned for your break?
MS: "I'm going to chill. Enjoy not having a schedule, see some friends and just recharge the batteries as much as I can."