1235 replies to this topic

[Stallknecht]

GROSJEAN VS. MAGNUSSEN 2018

 

 

It’s a new season for the Haas duo. Both drivers are in the last season of their current contract, and so the pressure is on.

 

 

Grosjean will be keen to make an impression on one of the bigger teams and take advantage of the apparent driver rotation next year. At the age of 31 he doesn't exactly have time on his side, though he himself believes he could be racing in F1 until the age of 40  Last year he struggled to make the brakes work to his liking the whole season and the team used a lot of resources to solve the issues. When the car works to his liking though, he is among the quickest on one lap.

 

 

Magnussen is facing what can possibly turn out to be the most important year of his career, as he sets out to establish himself for good. Entering his fourth season in F1 he can no longer hide behind the rookie shield. When he has a good weekend he still has that racecraft which got him the Mclaren seat in 2014, but when he has bad weekend he still makes to many mistakes. If he manages to iron out the mistakes and perform consistently across the 2018 season he may become an established driver on the grid.

 

The 2017 season was characterized by a lot of ups and downs for HAAS and their drivers. In the below table it is visible that the HAAS team struggled to perform consistently across the season. Will they do better this year? 

 

2017 results

 

 

With HAAS looking very good in testing, this could turn out be a very exciting teammate battle to follow 

Edited by Stallknecht, 17 March 2018 - 09:19.

[JoeDede]

I voted Magnussen 

 

The car suits him better this year(his own words), with a stable backend (which was a problem for him in 2017). That will make him stronger in qualifying, so I'll expect him to be at least on par with Grosjean there. He won't have to hand out his car to Giovanazzi this year, So he will have same conditions as Grosjean.

 

In the races I believe he was stronger than Grosjean last year and in 2018, I think he will be even better. So I'll expect him to cash in on more points than Grosjean.

 

However, as you say, it could be a very exiting team battle to watch this year. If Magnussen starts out stronger than Grosjean, I think we will experience a lot of tension between the two.

Edited by JoeDede, 17 March 2018 - 09:43.

[HP]

Voted Grosjean, If Haas has truly sorted out the brake issues for Grosjean, then  Magnusson can't afford to have off weekends. From what I've seen, no driver in recent F1 has been able to iron out inconsistent performances during different weekends after being several seasons in F1.

[RECKLESS]

Close call, but I expect Grosjean to have a slight edge.

[haryantofan666]

I voted Grosjean.

 

To me it seems Grosjean has got a much higher performance ceiling if he's got the car working for him. Now that Haas has gone completely with ci brakes, Grosjeans got no more excuses. He completely dominated Maldonado who was not a slow qualifyer. Also he outqualified Raikkonen in the Lotus quite a few times.

 

Magnussen on the other hand looks very very (below) average as a driver in f1. Outclassed by Button, matched by Palmer for half a season and didn't show much at Haas.

[DutchQuicksilver]

Voting for Grosjean as well, his pure speed is simply better than Magnussen’s. Even with all those brake issues and moaning, he had some great weekends in his first two seasons at Haas. Australia 2016, Bahrain 2016, Australia 2017, Austria 2017.

Whereas Magnussen is more of a driver who always finishes 9th or 10th and we really only see him when he’s ignoring blue flags or pushing other drivers off the track.

[f1paul]

I think Kevin "suck my balls" Magnussen 

[sopa]

Will be close with drivers taking turns in being competitive.

 

The ultimate headline result of the season I'd expect more to come from Grosjean. Though Magnussen's P2 from his very debut race indicates he can have a high peak performance too.

[JoeDede]

This is gonna be a fun thread to follow 

[Sterzo]

I come down firmly on the fence and abstain. Both are talented but inconsistent. Grosjean is, I suspect, the more talented and more inconsistent. Both have the capacity to impress a team, and the ability to frustrate a team. Will be fascinating to see how they both fare this year.

[Maxioos]

Grosjean will win Q (just faster imo), Magnussen will win Races battle(less frustrated and more dedicated imo).

 

I hope the speed from testing will continue during season, otherwise the in-team battle will be only interesting thing following these 2 drivers.

If driving constantly in top 10, the interactions and battlse with others would increase my interst in them.

[KWSN - DSM]

Magnussen finally staying at same team 2 seasons in a row will outperform Grosjean this season.

 

[Bloggsworth]

Oh gawd, here we go again, another X owned Y thread - Boring.

[KWSN - DSM]

Oh gawd, here we go again, another X owned Y thread - Boring.

 

Pleased to see that you can add a fresh perspective on it then...

 

[messy]

The momentum is with Kevin this year I think. Grosjean is fast becoming a spent force. He'll pull out a weekend where he qualifies P6 out of nowhere but then he'll be anonymous for weeks after, while Kevin seemed at the start of last year like he was able to produce the odd really feisty, impressive race drive (with less qualifying heroics) - but over 2017 those seemed to increase in frequency which is good.

So yeah, I've kind of written Grosjean off as anything other than a 'hanger on' really, which is probably harsh but they guys almost 32, has been around for ages and I don't think is ever going to amount to much. So Kevin is the one to watch I think.

[sopa]

Grosjean is certainly not so old that you could consider him "past it". So he should still do fine by his standards. The question is if Magnussen is much better than he has shown in his 3 seasons so far in F1. I have my doubts if I'm honest, unless he is a late bloomer.

[RacingGreen]

If the Haas is as good as it looked in testing and can regularly score points I think Romain will win the qualifying battle, and he'll score more points because when he has his "on" weekends he is faster, but overall I think he'll still disappoint somehow. If the Haas turns out to be unncompetitive and regularly outside Q2 then we'll see Kevin ahead because he is a far more combative "tougher" character and will be more consistent, just not as fast. 

 

My vote is that Kevin will win the head to head battle but Romain the world championship points one.

[Stallknecht]

I am really excited to see what Magnussen can do in a car which has been designed with his inputs in mind. It will show if he really belongs in F1 good. I believe it will make him a better qualifier compared to last year where he struggled to match Grosjean on Saturdays.

[F1Gmr]

Gone with K-Mag. If Haas has a car that Grosjean isn't comfortable with he gets agitated quickly and loses focus. Add that to K-Mag having another year's experience with the team and I think hell edge it.

[Risil]

Heh, where's the option to say they'll be evenly balanced and we'll all come away with the feeling that Haas should've taken more risks with recruiting drivers.

[JoeDede]

Heh, where's the option to say they'll be evenly balanced and we'll all come away with the feeling that Haas should've taken more risks with recruiting drivers.

 

Taken more risks?

[Risil]

Taken more risks?

 

When two drivers finish the season without a clear winner, 9 times out of 10 suspicion turns to whether the team shouldn't have hired better drivers. Hamilton against Alonso in 2007 is the exception that proves the rule.

[JoeDede]

When two drivers finish the season without a clear winner, 9 times out of 10 suspicion turns to whether the team shouldn't have hired better drivers. Hamilton against Alonso in 2007 is the exception that proves the rule.

 

I guess thats your rule? I have nerver heard that before and it sounds silly to me though    But I guess you could say that every team should hire better drivers, unless the have the two best 

[TurboRookie]

Somehow I feel its KMAGs year, excited to see what he can deliver in his second season with Haas.

Edited by TurboRookie, 18 March 2018 - 17:31.

[Sterzo]

When two drivers finish the season without a clear winner, 9 times out of 10 suspicion turns to whether the team shouldn't have hired better drivers. Hamilton against Alonso in 2007 is the exception that proves the rule.

Or they could have fixed that problem by hiring one slower one.

[Risil]

If I were a team boss I'd hire one fast one and one randomer who I found amusing in GP2. The fast one would be flattered (and wouldn't even need to be that fast), and all the journalists would focus on the foolish one's indiscretions instead of the balls-up my engineers had probably made with the design of the car.

Instead, Haas have hired two competent drivers who will extract from the car what speed there is to be got. Fools!

[Slipstreamer]

Will be interesting to follow. 2 drivers with different skills (one lap champ for Grosjean, close combat fighting/defending for Magnussen) and different weaknesses (requires a car fully compliant to his driving style; Grosjean and misses focus at critical times (e.g. quali); Magnussen. 2017 season saw a number of technical issues, without which results could have been quite different. If HAAS really has built a strong package, if it doesn't fall apart, and provided that they are able to keep developing it during the season - then I expect a close race between the 2 drivers. I will put my money on Grosjean for winning the quali battle and Magnussen for the race battle. Points wise = Magnussen, however with a narrow margin.

[BuddyHolly]

Quite frankly I don't rate either driver but I think Grosjean will come out on top.

[PistolPete]

Haas has doubled its experience as a F1 team and I do believe this will have a very positive effect on the driver performance as most of this rely on understand setting up the whole package for optimal tire temperature and optimal downforce to make the car quick and driveable. When it doesn't work the drivers look erratic and inconstent whereas when it works drivers will look better, just look at what happened to Ocon when he switched from Manor to FI.

 

I think we will see Magnussen performing on a high level with little errors and I think we will see Grosjean being less consistent but from time to time do a qualification that puts the car way above where it belongs. By the end of the Season when Magnussen is leading the battle with 20 points or so, we will see Grosjean implode and his performance will drop significantly. 

[Stallknecht]

Testing pace seems to be genuine - cant wait to see how well the drivers do on sunday

[JoeDede]

Yeah, super exiting.

 

Would ave loved to see their true qual-pace in the dry, but it looks like rain

[RaikkonenFan96]

Expecting K-MAG to have better season.

[MikeV1987]

Voted Kmag, expecting Grosjean to have brake problems for like the 5th season in a row.

[balage06]

Voted Kmag, expecting Grosjean to have brake problems for like the 5th season in a row.

 

This year they bought the brake system from Ferrari too so I expect him to beat Kmag comfortably if everything goes well 

[Brian O Flaherty]

"Which HAAS driver will end the season on top?"

 

I voted solely on the basis of WDC points, and I've gone for Grosjean.  TBH I don't think it'll be close at all.  You're right on one thing though.  Their battle will be happening a lot further up the grid this season than it did last season, so any non-classifications will hurt even more, and KMag had 5 of those last season to Grosjean's 3.

[Disgrace]

This is a big season for Magnussen - the first in which he has stayed at a team for longer than a single year. Honestly I think Grosjean is getting to the point of being underrated. Despite all the issues he had last year, he still outscored Magnussen in the championship. Imagine the gap if he gets brakes he likes.

[JoeDede]

This is a big season for Magnussen - the first in which he has stayed at a team for longer than a single year. Honestly I think Grosjean is getting to the point of being underrated. Despite all the issues he had last year, he still outscored Magnussen in the championship. Imagine the gap if he gets brakes he likes.

 

He has the brakes he likes according to himself and Magnussen has the stable backend he didn't have last year, so......exiting 

[JoeDede]

Super job for both guys 

[RECKLESS]

Haas has really delivered on the promise. Good job from both drivers and a tip of my hat to Magnussen.

[Disgrace]

Superb showing from Magnussen given how strong Grosjean has been around Melbourne the last two years. The understated star of qualifying. Looks like both are getting the maximum out of the car. Double points finish is a must.

[JoeDede]

Yeah, I'll be sitting on the edge of my couch with crossed fingers, hoping that the start goes well without any accidents 

[Stallknecht]

Absolutely gutted for both drivers. Perfect weekend from them both, but the team failed

[JoeDede]

[Galoredk]

Wouldn't want to be the pit crew tonight. The only thing that must not happen, happened twice. When they look back at their constructors championship standings, they can blame 1 position loss on total pit stop failure....how anyone can still question the drivers skills in Haas is beyond me. Who would've predicted Kmag overtaking Max and keeping him behind for the race?
You do not do that unless you have skill. Great race until a hungover left side pit crew decided to **** up Haas best race to date.....

Edited by Galoredk, 25 March 2018 - 06:56.

[Lights]

I'd say Grosjean did a better job today parking his car for the motherteam.

[JoeDede]

Yeah, complete disaster after Kevin and Roman did everything right     

[PistolPete]

- KMAG had a perfect qualification, and he made a strong start outsmarting Verstappen holding his 4th position from that point. 

 

- RoGro did almost as good, qualifying just behind and did not loose positions at the start, holding it as well...

 

Absolutely amazing performances!

[Disgrace]

I'd say Grosjean did a better job today parking his car for the motherteam.

 

Sarcasm I know, but he did genuinely do the best possible job. If he rolls any further and the wheel comes off and starts bouncing down the track, that's a grid penalty for the next race.

[JoeDede]

Sarcasm I know, but he did genuinely do the best possible job. If he rolls any further and the wheel comes off and starts bouncing down the track, that's a grid penalty for the next race.

 

Normally wheels don't bonce anywhere as they are attacuhed due to safety 

Edited by JoeDede, 25 March 2018 - 07:56.

[Jerem]

Normally wheels don't bonce anywhere as they are attacuhed due to safety 

Are they attached even when they're not bolted properly on the car?