MoneyGram Haas F1 Team Car Reveal

This is the first in what will be a series of posts, covering the Car Launches of all Formula One teams for the 2023 season. This is my first post on the network, apart from my introduction, so I'm very eager to hear feedback and ideas, that I can take into future posts. Small disclaimer that all opinions here are just that, opinions. That does not take away from the fact I try to be factually accurate, so please call me out on my mistakes if you spot them 😀

On January 31st, Haas revealed their livery. Like we've seen in the years before, there wasn't a flashy live-streamed event, or any event at all for that matter. They saved everyone some time and themselves some money and just posted some renders of their contender, the VF-23, on their Instagram page. In this post, I want to delve into the car and what we could expect from the team over the next 23 Grands Prix.

The car

Straight off the bat, I love it. It feels like they're going back a bit to their roots with the dark colors. I'm a bit disappointed that they've not chosen the black and gold color scheme from the VF-19, but with the history behind that livery, I can see why. Such a shame that the best livery they've had (in my opinion) got ruined by one sponsor.

Speaking of sponsors, most sponsors on this year's car are still a little unfamiliar. While MoneyGram was announced to become the Title Sponsor for Haas way back in October 2022, only now do we see the sponsor plastered across the car in full glory. While I do feel like I'm seeing more sponsors than last year, it's not a lot more. Let's hope this influx in new sponsors, like OpenSea and Hantec Markets, allows Haas to be a little more competitive this season.

I'm still curious to see their Team Kit, we've not seen anything related to that on their socials, so I guess we'll have to sit out for another while before we get a peek at it.

What we can expect

In the end it's still Haas F1 Team and while they have made great strides in 2022 compared to 2021, I still don't think we're going to see the team leave the rear end of the grid. I think the only expectation for the better, within reason, would be low-midfield. They're still a team that struggle financially every year, and I can only assume Gene Haas hasn't given them a boost in funds.

The drivers

This year's driver line-up consists of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. I would put a picture here of the both of them in Team Kit, but...

It's an interesting choice for many reasons. Kevin Magnussen is a team veteran, racing for Haas between 2017 and 2020, and again in 2022. Obviously, he brings a lot of experience. Racing experience in general, but valuable experience with the team. He knows them, and they know him. You'd think that latter part would be a reason for Haas not to go with Kevin Magnussen. He's not exactly Championship material. Yes, he finished in the points a couple of times, even in 2022 when nobody expected Haas to score any points, but Kevin is not a consistent driver. He's also a hothead. Even if you don't watch Netflix' Drive to Survive, as an F1 fan you'll have probably seen or heard of him smashing Team Principle Guenther Steiner's door after himself and former teammate Romain Grosjean got lectured by him. I've also not forgotten about him telling his new teammate Nico Hulkenberg to suck his balls, during an interview at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.

That brings us to the other contender, Nico Hulkenberg. After his last season at Renault, in 2019, I don't think a lot of people expected him to return to a full-time seat at any team. He's shown a lot of talent in his junior career, and in Formula One he's shown that he is a very consistent driver. However, that also makes him consistent at not bringing the results that his past teams have needed. It's clear, however, that Haas signed him for his consistency.

That is something that his predecessor, Mick Schumacher, seemed to lack. I believe, given more time, that Mick could have perfected his racecraft, and gained the consistency he needed for the team to have him on for another (few) years. It's a shame Haas no longer could afford to give Mick that time. I think it was a purely financial decision for Haas, and I can't blame them for that. A chassis costs roughly a million dollars from scratch. While one crash might only cost less than a percent of the annual allowed budget, those crashes add up, and who knows if Haas can even afford to reach the budget cap.

That brings us to the 2023 Season. Like I said before, I think the maximum we can expect from Haas is low-midfield. Nonetheless, I'm interested to see in how they will perform and compete with their rivals on the grid, which for now, still seem to mostly be Williams and Alfa Romeo. On February 11th, the team will do 100 kilometers of running for the "shakedown" of their car, but we won't really see the car's true performance until it hits the track for the first Grand Prix of the season on the 5th of March.

Next post: Oracle Red Bull Racing, hope to bang that out tomorrow, I'm running behind!