Haas drivers don’t think replacements will struggle
Kevin Magnussen has options to stay in F1 but misses being competitive.
The 2020 Haas car has been poor in many ways, but both drivers say it’s easy to drive and think their rookie replacements will feel the same.
The American team made the decision not to retain Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean for the 2021 season, with Formula 2 drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin set to come in instead.
Given their lack of experience, many expect them to struggle initially, but Magnussen says that the car won’t cause them too many problems at least.
“I don’t know if that is the case that those guys are stepping in, but whoever is going to step in I don’t think they’re going to find a very difficult car to drive, at least,” he said.
“These cars are very good. Many times I’ve driven the car and thought ‘this is going to be competitive because the feeling is good’.
“But it isn’t and we’re slow because we lack quite a bit of everything. That’s really what makes us under-competitive – not because the car is particularly difficult to drive. I think they’re going to find it very fast and enjoyable to drive.”
Get your hands on the official Haas 2020 collection via the Formula 1 store
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— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) November 26, 2020
Grosjean echoed his team-mate’s comments, saying that it’s not a difficult car to handle. However, while it’s one of the grid’s slowest cars, he’s still confident it’ll be faster than what they’ve driven before.
“As Kev said the car is a bit understeery so in that aspect it’s not a too hard car to drive,” the Frenchman stated.
“It’s always going to be the key of getting the tyres to work and with the 2021 tyres, I don’t know how it’s going to go. But it’ll be faster than what they’re used to.”
Both Grosjean and Magnussen have yet to confirm their plans for next year, but there are reports that the Dane is set to join Chip Ganassi Racing’s IMSA team.
According to the man himself, nothing is set in stone, although he is confident he won’t be driving in IndyCar, a category he has expressed an interest in before, and is hoping he can make an announcement soon.
“I haven’t signed anything yet. I can’t confirm anything yet. Hopefully, I can announce something soon,” he added.
“Indycar is certainly a nice class, but it is unlikely that I will drive in that class next year.”
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