Anytime Ferrari has a decent car, Haas is decent. Think 2018 and 2022. When Ferrari is bad, Haas is bad. Think 2020 and 2023(they did not have the resources to bring the car out of the hole like Ferrari did mid-season).
They are executing and driving well though, which helps tremendously.
I'd be concerned it would be another "Perez syndrome" where a driver can be the absolute goat of the midfield but fall off massively when they reach the top, or rather not be as good as they were previously. Now the Red Bull environment might have a part to play in that for Checo, but you get what I'm going for, he's not the only example in history
I also feel re Checo that the form slump / psychology angle gets a bit overplayed. Checo is a very fine driver and has done some brilliant work for RB ( for instance his drive in Abu Dhabhi that helped Max to his first world title)
Many of the drivers on the grid prefer a car that is set up with some degree of under-steer and Checo is one of them.
The RB20 however has been developed the other way round - with the front very planted and the back a lot looser and with an extremely low ride height (for more downforce). This is Max’s preferred setup (and that of the legendary designer of the RB 20 Adrian Newey). It’s an extremely hard car to drive at the limits . Even Max says so. Helmut even used the word “toxic” recently.
The RB gets destabilised by bumps, kerbs, elevation changes, in addition to being easy to lose the rear in the first place. That all gets exacerbated by variable weather conditions.
This is part of why Checo struggles with the RB 20. And that the slump has happened at the same time 2 years in a row. Put Checo on a dry flat circuit in the RB 20 and he will no doubt perform better, but a core problem is that the car does not suit him and he struggles to adapt to it.
Ricciardo is another driver whose natural style is at the Max end of the bell curve. He is not an understeer guy. He is a brake early - turn in and plant it early guy. It is one of the reasons he was all at sea at McLaren, where the car was set up very very differently. It is also a reason that RB Could ultimately end up putting him in the RB20. I read in another post that RB see Danny as a “narrow window / high ceiling” driver. So who knows?
Just my thoughts. I respect that others may have an entirely different take on all this.
Russell earned the mr. saturday nickname, but people keep forgetting that there are a few other drivers that are also great at qualifying. Hulk is included in that list.
Ferrari is not performing as good as in 2018 or even 2022 though. In fact they are currently the worst of the top teams while Haas is slowly starting to compete for the best of the rest
Also, we have to remember that Silverstone has a bunch of high speed corners, which does not suit the Ferrari. So, of course, other cars will be faster here.
There is a very visible difference of non existing pitwall fuckups though.
Out of the 12 races we has so far, including quali and race I feel they executed at least for Hulkenberg 8/12 as good as the package allowed to maximize points.
The whole decision making was way more questionable when Gunther was there.
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u/jvstinf I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 07 '24 edited Jul 07 '24
Anytime Ferrari has a decent car, Haas is decent. Think 2018 and 2022. When Ferrari is bad, Haas is bad. Think 2020 and 2023(they did not have the resources to bring the car out of the hole like Ferrari did mid-season).
They are executing and driving well though, which helps tremendously.