Rich Energy Haas F1 Team’s Standout Races

Australian Grand Prix – 2016

Becoming the first American based-team to line up on the grid for 30 years, Haas F1 Team’s inaugural race at Melbourne Park will live long in the memory as the team became the first debutants to score points in a Formula 1 race since 2002.

Following a challenging qualifying session, Romain Grosjean started 19^th, one position ahead of his team-mate Esteban Gutierrez, but made up more places than anyone else in the 2016 season curtain-raiser. The Frenchman climbed to an impressive sixth by the checkered flag, earning the team a credible eight constructors’ points.

Having yet to pit, Grosjean had ascended as high as 10^th by lap 17, which is when Mexican Gutierrez was involved in a high-speed accident with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, causing the race to be halted with a red flag.

The teams all returned to the pits, and the only work that they could complete on their cars was a tire change. This opportunity came at the ideal time for Grosjean, who switched from the yellow soft compounds, to the more durable white medium tires.

This allowed Grosjean to reach the end of the race without pitting again, passing Carlos Sainz Jnr and Max Verstappen, who both needed to change tires again midway through the race. Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement saw Grosjean pick up another position and there were triumphant scenes on the pit wall as the team celebrated a sensational debut race.

After the race, a delighted Romain Grosjean said: “This is an unbelievable feeling. The guys did an amazing job and I told them, this is like a win for all of us. First race and here we are, P6. A happy day.”

Monaco Grand Prix – 2017

Monte Carlo is the venue for our next memorable race as for the first time in the outfit’s history, Haas F1 Team secured a double-points scoring finish.

Track position is always key at Monaco and drivers Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen both performed well on Saturday afternoon, as they started eighth and 11^th respectively.

Magnussen made a brilliant start to the race in to Sainte Devote, passing both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat into the notoriously tight turn one, securing ninth a position behind team-mate Grosjean.

Just five laps after switching to the supersoft tires, misfortune struck Magnussen as he suffered a left-rear puncture and he was forced to return to the pit lane where he put on another full set of red tires.

The Dane returned to the track in 13^th but began to pick up positions later in the race as he firstly passed Stoffel Vandoorne who had gone wide at the opening turn.

Then on lap 72, Sergio Perez and Kvyat collided at Rascasse, which saw Magnussen promoted to 10^th. He held onto that position for the final six laps to collect a point, two places behind Grosjean who had remained eighth for most of the race, ensuring the team’s first double top-ten finish in their history.

After the race, Team Principal Guenther Steiner commented: “A first time with two cars in the points is something we wanted to achieve this year and we achieved it in race six. We fell out of the points and we got back in after the puncture, so I think we can be pretty happy and content with what we did here.”

Austrian Grand Prix – 2018

The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix saw Haas F1 Team celebrate its 50^th race with its highest total point-score achieved on a race weekend, with a combined fourth and fifth finish earning a 22-point haul on the Sunday afternoon.

A strong qualifying session saw Magnussen starting eighth on the grid whilst Grosjean claimed fifth on the grid (one position higher than his qualifying result due to Sebastian Vettel’s five-place grid penalty).

Both Haas drivers had opted for a one-stop strategy in the 71-lap race and after all the front-runners had synchronised their pitstops, Grosjean was running sixth with Magnussen eighth, although the Dane passed Sainz Jnr to gain a spot.

The double retirement of both Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo plus Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton saw the Haas F1 Team drivers promoted to fourth and fifth, which completed a highly successful afternoon for the team. The result meant they had already surpassed their 2017 points total midway through the 2018 campaign.

Grosjean’s fourth place finish remains the best recorded by the team, and after the race the Frenchman said: “It’s a great day for all of us, the whole team. They deserve such a good result with the cars finishing fourth and fifth. It’s incredible for our 50th Grand Prix. I’m so, so happy for all the guys. We’ve done an amazing job all weekend.”

Belgian Grand Prix - 2018

Haas F1 Team returned after the mid-season break to score their first ever back-to-back double points-scoring race weekend, a few weeks after two top-ten finishes in Hungary. Grosjean collected a seventh-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps, with Magnussen coming home in eighth.

For the seventh time in 2018, both drivers had made it through to Q3, with Grosjean starting from fifth with Magnussen ninth. Both avoided the chaotic scenes in turn one as Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc all collided in dramatic fashion.

In fact the incident aided Magnussen’s progress as he picked off both Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap.

Grosjean dived into the pits on lap 23, swapping a set of supersoft tires for a set of softs, with Magnussen replicating his team-mates’ tire strategy. The Dane emerged from the pits behind the sister VF-18 in eighth and the pair successfully maintained their positions through to the checkered.

The result bolstered the team’s fifth spot in the Constructors’ Championship, a highest-ever placing which was secured at the end of the 2018 campaign. It was also one of five double points-scoring placings that the team achieved over the course of the season.

After the race, Magnussen said: “We scored points with both cars, which was the goal for today. We did everything we could.”