The Haas team started the U.S. GP from the pit lane, favoring a change of set-up because of tyre wear struggles in the sprint. They added more downforce for the Grand Prix and it paid off.
German driver Nico Hülkenberg finished the race in 11th position ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen, who ended up 14th.
Photo credit: MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
Hülkenberg was happy with the call to start from pit lane as the car was stronger and kinder on its tyres in comparison to the sprint.
“I think definitely better than yesterday. I think it was the right call to start from the pit lane and change the set-up. It turned out to be much better today. I think we were much more competitive.
“But obviously, paying a price for starting all the way from the back. It wasn’t easy, felt tricky, a lot of management going on but obviously — relative to others — I think the pace was ok from what I could see and judge. Some positive signs.”
It was a momentous change from most of this season to date, which saw him sliding backwards in races due to tyre deg. This time he could make moves and gain spots. He beat the Alfa Romeos on merit.
“I need to go and see more data and understand a bit better, but it was a long time since I’ve actually overtaken people and not got overtaken. That felt nice and good.”
As for Kevin Magnussen, he spoke post-race about how this choice facilitated a better result for the team and allowed him to finish in 14th position.
“I think it helped, not enough. We still weren’t competitive enough, of course, but it helped. We’ll look into things and see what we think.”
There wasn’t a single doubt in the Dane’s mind about the team’s call.
“As I said, we helped the problem. We had a better race than if we would have if we hadn’t changed [things], even though we were P14. Starting from the pit lane, I still think we had a better race than what we would have.”
The result is not enough for the team, however, which as of today is in the second-to-last position in the Constructors’ Championship, just two points above Red Bull’s sister squad AlphaTauri thanks to Yuki Tsunoda’s exploits on Sunday.
“Yeah, of course, not happy about today. We still go to different types tracks, we know things can be up and down.”
Hopes and concentration remain high for the next race weekend, in Mexico, despite being a circuit largely influenced by atmospheric pressure and therefore not easy to face. Getting the car to perform at high altitude will not be easy.
“Things could be different at the next race. Mexico is a very unique race, with the ambient pressure and all that. We’ll see.”
Photo credit: MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
