Japan GP: Haas surprises himself / Formula 1

No points, eleventh and thirteenth place, but there is still hope and faith in the Haas camp. The team itself was surprised by the good performance in the race.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen says: “At one point I was suddenly in the top 10. I didn’t have an overview of what the others were doing, so I didn’t know if it was real.”

Dane continued: “We are back in the race. This is encouraging and gives us hope for the next race where we can chase the points.” Last year, the race was more of a Haas weakness.

His team-mate Nico Hülkenberg, who had a good start at the start but had problems with the restart, agrees: “I take our pace in the race as something positive. It was better than I expected before the race. So that’s a relief and promising .”

With four points from four races, Haas is currently seventh in the constructors’ championship. Despite a convincing performance at Suzuka, Haas finished without points in Japan. Nico Hülkenberg missed the points in eleventh place. With a better restart, something meaningful would be possible.

Team boss Ayao Komatsu, who celebrated his home race in Japan, says: “It’s a mixed feeling because with Nico we missed the top 10 by five seconds. But on the positive side, the pace in the race was better than we saw earlier in the weekend . So the changes we made after the third practice session and before qualifying worked well.”

Japan-GP, Suzuka Circuit

01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:54:23,566 h
02. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +12.535 seconds
03. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +20,866
04. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +26,522
05. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +29.700
06. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +44,272
07. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +45,951
08. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +47.525
09. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +48,626
10. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, +1 Round
11. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1 lap
12. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +1 Round
13. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +1 Lap
14. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), clean, +1 lap
15. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1 Round
16. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +1 Round
17. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, +1 Round

outside
Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, Elektrik
Alex Albon (T), Williams, Crash
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bull, Crash

World Championship Standings (after 4 out of 24 Grands Prix)

the driver
01. Verstappen 77 points
02. Perez 64
03. Leclerc 59
04. Sainz 55
05. Norris 37
06. Plate 32
07. Russell 24
08. Alonso 24
09. Hamilton 10
10. Walk 7
11. Tsunoda 7
12. Oliver Bearman (GB) 6
13. Hulkenberg 3
14. Magnussen 1
15. Alboni 0
16. Zhou 0
17. Ricciardo 0
18. Okon 0
19. 0 gas
20. Bota 0
21. Sergeant 0

Builders Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 141 Punkte
02. Ferrari 120
03. McLaren 69
04. Mercedes 34
05. Aston Martin 33
06. Running Bull 7
07. Especially 4
08. Williams 0
09. Sauber 0
10. Alpine 0