Haas F1 focuses on overcoming tire degradation with the VF-24 during winter testing, aiming for better race finishes.
Haas F1 had a single, clear objective with its VF-24 for this winter testing: to improve on its major weakness, which is tire degradation during races, often preventing it from finishing in the points in 2023.
So, after these three days, what’s the assessment in this area? Ayao Komatsu, the team’s director, provides an update after the last day in Sakhir, before next week’s opening Grand Prix.
“Today, we first carried out our initial qualification simulation, assessing the car’s balance with a low fuel level, and then we conducted two race simulations – one with Kevin Magnussen, one with Nico Hulkenberg.”
“We accomplished all of this, despite the issues that occurred on the track today. In fact, it was a very, very good day. Our race simulations show that yes, we still have a lot of work to do, but at the same time, we have a baseline car that we can truly rely on.”
“As for qualifying performance, we didn’t work on it at all, today was the first time we looked at it, but again, it was okay. We’ve made a very good start to the season with all this preparation in testing. I’m very happy and thank all team members.”
Kevin Magnussen was driving the VF-24 this morning.
“You never get all the answers you need and you always want more time, as three days of testing – and sharing those days with two drivers – is limiting. Given the time available, I think we’ve done a lot, we’ve had good impressions of the car as we try to focus on Sunday.”
“We did a lot of long runs with a lot of fuel to try to address this issue, and I think we’re getting somewhere. We haven’t completely solved the problem but I hope it will be enough to make a difference in the race. I expect it to be very tight among all the teams again this year.”
Nico Hülkenberg concluded this afternoon.
“Today, we finished the program and did what we wanted to do, so that was good. We also did a race simulation – I haven’t compared it to the others yet – but now we have a lot of feelings after three days of testing, a lot of data, and things to analyze. We were able to experiment like most teams, that’s what you do in testing, and it has been good, even positive. I have no idea where we stand or what it’s worth, but we’ll have that answer in a week. It’s only the beginning, but from the car, from where I’m sitting, if I compare this car to last year’s, I feel better and it seems we’ve made a step in the right direction.”
Haas VF-24 Targets Tire Issues in Winter Testing. Haas VF-24 Targets Tire Issues in Winter Testing
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