2023 was meant to be a year in which Haas was progressing up the midfield, especially with the signing of Nico Hulkenberg to bring some much-needed experience to the American team.
With a few points-scoring finishes at the start of the season, things were looking promising but with only one point scored from Monaco to the end of the season, Haas would end the year bottom of the constructor standings.
Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg would drive for the team in 2023, with the latter replacing Mick Schumacher, who would become the reserve driver for Mercedes.
In the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Hulkenberg would progress to Q3, but couldn’t show the same pace in the race as he finished down in 15th place, with Magnussen in 13th.
But they wouldn’t have to wait long to score their first point of the season with Magnussen finishing tenth in Saudi Arabia.
In the following race, the Australian Grand Prix, Hulkenberg would finish in 7th place, taking home 6 points for the team. It could have been so much better for the American team as well as Hulkenberg had been running as high as fourth when a red flag came out, before dropping down to 7th at the restart.
A tenth-place finish for Magnussen in Miami would be the team’s final points-paying finish until the Singapore Grand Prix, where Magnussen would finish tenth.
This would also be their final point of the season, ending the season at the bottom of the constructor standings on 12 points, two places lower and 25 points fewer than in 2022.
It wasn’t the best season for Haas and somewhat of a backwards step after looking like they were starting to turn their fortunes around in 2022.
However, things are getting even more competitive in the midfield and it was still their second-highest-scoring season since 2019.
Despite a lack of points, they weren’t always running down at the back of the grid either, with several finishes between 11th and 13th showing that they were still in the fight for points.
It was a solid effort from a team under a lot of pressure to perform after a few challenging seasons. They have shown their potential on several occasions and having the consistency of retaining their driver line-up in 2024 will go along way as the American team trying to progress further up the Constructors’ Standings.