Haas team principal faces criticism in German media after Nico Hulkenberg's scathing remarks about the car
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner recently came in for criticism for the team's lack of progress and inability to bring upgrades, particularly after Nico Hulkenberg's comments. Things are currently not looking their best for the American F1 team.
Speaking to the media after the 2023 F1 Italian GP, the German driver recently stated how bad the car felt in terms of balance, grip, and tire degradation.
Furthermore, Hulkenberg said that Haas was the only team that did not bring any major upgrades or extra parts.
“We’re just eating the tyre, the balance is poor, we’re sliding a lot more than other cars, can’t keep the pace up using more tyre. So yeah, it was one of the toughest and worst races of the season,” he said (via PlanetF1).
“Obviously, that’s also a big miss, not having a front flap ready for the new front wing. I think we’re the only team who didn’t have any parts, any upgrades here this weekend, and quite frankly, we’re not point-worthy also for that reason,” Hulkenberg added.
Nico Hulkenberg's comments clearly proved that the Kannapolis-based team was not doing good in terms of progression.
Hence, former F1 driver Timo Glock criticized Haas while speaking to the German wing of Sky, asking what it learned from wind tunnel tests and where the upgrades are. He stated that Steiner should have answers to these questions since he is the team principal.
“As far as Haas is concerned, I have to ask myself the question: Have they not learned anything from the wind tunnel? You would have to ask Haas team boss Guenther Steiner where all the major improvements are. Nico Hulkenberg is right to criticise this. Nico wants to move forward and sees that there is only stagnation at the moment. It is absolutely his right to make this clear to the team,” Glock said.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen coins the 2023 F1 Italian GP as the "worst race ever"
Kevin Magnussen also had nothing good to say about the car's performance and the weekend at Monza. He stated the race was the worst and pointed out the same issues that Hulkenberg mentioned, namely tire degradation and a lack of balance and pace.
"Yes, true. I think it was the worst race ever. It’s just no pace at all, the tyres were falling apart, there was no balance. Wow, we have a steep hill to climb," Magnussen was quoted as saying by F1.
The American outfit is currently eighth in the constructors' championship with only 11 points.