Haas F1 remove upgrades from Nico Hulkenberg’s car for F1 Las Vegas GP
Haas will remove their latest upgrade from Nico Hulkenberg's car ahead of the F1 Las Vegas GP (November 17-19) after their unsuccessful campaigns.
The team introduced this upgrade back in Austin for the United States Grand Prix, which was supposedly going to change the concept of the car. However, as F1 now moves to the US for the final time this season for the inaugural Las Vegas GP, Haas will remove those upgrades from Nico Hulkenberg's car.
Team principal, Guenther Steiner, said that this change is being made because Kevin Magnussen feels comfortable driving the new spec car whereas Hulkenberg does not.
"The main drive behind this was Nico feels that for him the old spec suits him better, and Kevin is the opposite. We’ve opted to give them what they want. We have two races to go and nothing to lose, so we’ve tried to do what we can," The Race quoted him as saying.
The package that was earlier upgraded on Haas was inspired by Red Bull and implemented the 'downwash' designs that most of the teams have used recently. It included changes in the sidepod of the car, altering the aerodynamics and ultimately the downforce.
Nico Hulkenberg earlier expressed his disappointment regarding the upgrades
After another disappointing season in Brazil, where both their Sprint and main race ended without scoring a single point, Nico Hulkenberg revealed how the car needed a "real step forward."
He had mentioned that the car was unpredictable in some parts but then found its balance, but it wasn't effective in boosting their competitiveness.
"It's not a clear step forward," he told Sky Sports Germany. "We understand that now and we know that. It feels similar in some places, better in some, and worse in some. At the end of the day, it's balanced. But we actually needed a real step forward in performance. Unfortunately, that didn't happen."
Nico Hulkenberg had also mentioned the issue with the car's aerodynamics needed to be solved because it would further hammer down their future development as well, including the new chassis that they would introduce in the future F1 seasons.
Haas dropped back to the bottom of the standings this season after both AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo made their way above. They have only scored 12 points so far, and heading into the final two races, Alfa Romeo is ahead of them by four points.