Heavy crashes by Mick Schumacher in Jeddah and Monaco brought considerable damage to the American team, which barely has spare parts. So the German will just watch his teammate enjoy improvements to the VF-22 at the Hungaroring
For the first time in 2022, Haas will bring updates to the VF-22. But only Kevin Magnussen will be able to enjoy the promised improvements to the team's car for the current Formula 1 season. Mick Schumacher is 'left out of the party' - and boss Günther Steiner explained the reason for this.
"We will hardly have any spare parts, even for one car. We have had many accidents this year, so we use all our materials," Steiner justified.
Previously scheduled for the French GP, the updates are not expected to arrive to the VF-22 until the Hungaroring. And as the Haas boss himself reported, Schumacher will not see 'color' of the upgrades because of his past accidents in F1 2022.
In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the German lost the car and crashed violently into the protective barrier on the inside of the track - so hard that he threw the VF-22 still hard to the outside. At the time, Haas calculated a loss of up to R$4.7 million because of the crash, and gave its driver a yank on the ear.
In Monaco, Schumacher had another strong crash. The German driver lost control of the rear of his car in the third sector of the Monte Carlo track, near the S of the Pool, and hit the wall - causing the race to be red flagged. With the impact, the son of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher destroyed the American team's single-seater, whose rear end came loose on the track.
The damage from Schumacher's accidents also needs to be put into context. Formula One is going through a new technical and regulatory era in 2022, with a new and reduced budget limit - in addition, Haas had already suffered a huge financial impact, as with the war between Russia and Ukraine, the American team fired Nikita Mazepin and, as a consequence, lost its fat sponsorship from Uralkali, the Russian fertilizer company owned by Nikita's father.
With all this, it is understandable why Haas is the only F1 2022 team that has not yet brought updates to its car. That will change in Hungary, however: there, the American team will modify the sidepod and floor of the VF-22 - and the intention is to have more pace, not "publicity" for finally introducing improvements.
"I hope we can get the most out of what we expect from them (upgrades). I'm always cautious with improvements, so I won't say how much faster we will get. But if it happens, it will help - and I hope we can fight even harder," Steiner pointed out.