Do you remember in the movie Cars 3, Cruz told Lightning McQueen about the advice she received as a young racer?–‘Dream small, or not at all.’ Well, that is the kind of situation with the Haas Formula 1 team right now. After a grim 2023 season, where the team not only struggled with extremely poor tire degradation but also failed with the big upgrade package in Austin, their expectations are quite low going into 2024, as acknowledged by the new team principal Ayao Komatsu. And that is reason enough for Ralf Schumacher to advise Nico Hulkenberg to look elsewhere in 2025.

Schumacher’s assessment of Haas’s prospects in 2024 is rather blunt, suggesting that the team’s performance may be limited due to budget constraints. He also believes that the team won’t be improving much over the season either, noting how the updates from the previous year did not deliver the desired results. According to him, Hulkenberg should speak to other teams, especially since we have 12 drivers going out of contract at the end of the season.

It won’t work out for Nico Hulkenberg at Haas says Ralf Schumacher

Haas was pretty much a quick qualifier throughout last year, but it fell backward like a stone on a Sunday, owing to its extremely poor tire wear. This is why, when Haas hit the track for pre-season testing in Bahrain a week ago, they were focused on long runs more than anything in an attempt to understand the underlying issues. Ayao Komatsu, the team boss, highlighted the major improvements in the new car. He emphasized the predictability and consistency of the VF-24, addressing concerns about its behavior under different conditions.

While acknowledging the need for more downforce, especially in high-speed situations, Komatsu expressed confidence in the car’s overall performance, stating that it no longer exhibits “nasty characteristics.” However, that’s not how Ralf Schumacher views it. “You kind of get the feeling that the car was cleaned and sent back with a few changes. Where are they supposed to come from? You save money. It is still deeply felt that last year’s big update, which was also crucial for this year, went wrong,” Ralf was quoted by speedweek.com.

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Schumacher emphasizes the importance for Nico Hulkenberg to outperform Kevin Magnussen, which has largely been the case in the past. However, following the Austin update last season, the car didn’t suit Nico’s driving style as well as it did for his teammate. Schumacher’s advice to Hülkenberg is straightforward: “He can do that [beat his teammate] and then he just has to leave Haas as soon as possible because it won’t work.“

Nico Hulkenberg: Lewis Hamilton Needed “Change of Scenery” With Ferrari After Mercedes Drowned All Hopes

Ayao Komatsu is determined to get Haas back up into the mid-field, which is exactly where the owner, Gene Haas, expects the team to be.

Ayao Komatsu wants the car to be good on a Sunday

Throughout the 3 days of testing, Haas prioritized setting up the car for race pace over securing a good grid position. Komatsu stressed the importance of solving their biggest problem first to maximize race performance. He referred to past experiences where qualifying well didn’t translate into strong race results, and he wants to avoid that situation at all costs in 2024.

“There is no point qualifying in P7 and going backward on Sunday. I’d rather qualify P14 but have a car we can race and get up to the top 10. That’s our objective,” Komatsu told Autosport. “…So once you got the objective, that’s what we’re doing. Everything else is noise,” he added.

Where do you think Haas is in the pecking order as of now? Share your insights in the comments down below.