Haas bring upgrades but 2024 car taking priority

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed the cars for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix will sport upgrades – albeit with the focus on 2024.

The team has so far struggled this year with its VF-23 which has become renowned for relatively strong qualifying performances, particularly from Nico Hulkenberg, only to fall through the field on race day due to the car rapidly degrading its tyres.

Haas is currently on a run of seven races without a top-10 finish, with its best result over that period being Hulkenberg’s 13th in the British Grand Prix.

Although eighth in the constructors’ championship – level on points with Williams but behind on countback – both Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri are within touching distance, leaving Haas vulnerable going into the second half of the season.

To that end, the cars will sport upgrades to the brake ducts and front wing at Zandvoort, with more to come later this year, according to Steiner, although the push for next season is growing.

“The team is working flat out to make some modifications to the car which will be coming later on in the year, and I can’t give an exact timeline because of the shutdown,” said Steiner, referring to the recent two-week break.

“We keep on working, and there are two reasons for this. Firstly, to try and make the car go quicker, as you always do with upgrades but also to know the direction for the VF-24, which is as important, if not more important.

“There’s a lot of hard work going on. It’s almost as intense as being in December developing the new car.”

For Kevin Magnussen, in particular, the season has been a bitter disappointment as the Dane has just two 10th-placed finishes to his credit, with the last of those in Miami.

Magnussen, however, is confident of a strong showing on F1’s resumption for the remaining 10 races of the campaign, using its rivals as a yardstick for improvement.

“I think it’s clear that we didn’t finish the first half of the season the way we wanted, so we’re all super eager to make a comeback during the season,” said Magnussen.

“I think we can do that, we’ve seen some teams making good steps and that’s actually been motivating as much as it’s been annoying.

“It shows that if they can do it, we can do it, too, and I think that’s the mentality we’re going into the second half of the season with.

“I feel we as a team are in a good spot, but with the car, we’re a little behind so I’m looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to working hard to get to where we want to be.”