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8. Haas - 8/10
Say what you want about the Haas model, the team simply took advantage of what the regulations allowed and delivered in spectacular style. To finish eighth might seem a disappointing final result after such an incredible start, but new teams traditionally struggle and Haas has been competitive throughout.
Australia was the dream start as the team took advantage of a red flag to score sixth place with Romain Grosjean despite a difficult pre-season. However, if that result appeared to be lucky then the fifth place in Bahrain was far from it as the perfect strategy and excellent use of the supersoft tyre saw Grosjean continue to excel.
The only downside was the lack of contribution from Esteban Gutierrez early on, but that also showed how the new team was still learning how to deliver with both cars across a weekend. Russia again saw Grosjean scoring points before the season became much more difficult, with Haas still developing as a team while others started to get more out of their respective packages.
Still, Haas got it right on a number of occasions, with Grosjean securing seventh place in Austria and another point with tenth in the USA. Inconsistency was the team’s biggest frustration - and an understandable one in its first year - but Haas still finished 11th on eight occasions as it was competitive throughout its debut campaign. Q3 appearances in Japan and Brazil - although Grosjean criminally crashed on the way to the grid in the latter - showed just how strong the team was all year.
