F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Magnussen sole beneficiary of Haas upgrade in Hungary

Haas will implement in Hungary this week its first upgrade package on its VF-22, but Kevin Magnussen will be the sole beneficiary of the changes.

Haas has so far held off on updating its new-generation car, the US outfit opting not to follow its rivals by introducing changes during the first part of the 2022 season.

The decision was justified mainly by the team's aim to extract as much performance as it could from its basic car rather than following an incremental development programme, a choice that has worked out well for Haas, especially in Britain and in Austria where the team's drivers put double points on the board.

But Haas will finally roll out a new-spec car at the Hungaroring, although Magnussen - who has scored ten more points than teammate Mick Schumacher - will be the only one to showcase the changes.

Read also: Haas feeling 'anxious' about upcoming VF-22 upgrade

"As many people know, we waited a bit longer to bring our upgrade to track because I think we still have good pace," said Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.

"Now what we want to do is put performance on. What exactly it will do, I don’t want to say because I don’t want to jinx it, but we know what it should be doing from our development.

©Haas

"We’ll just have to wait and see what we can get out of the package. In the end, we couldn’t get two car kits to the race track, so with Kevin being in front in the championship we gave him the package to try.

"Unfortunately we had a few delays in the development stage, so we postponed it from the French Grand Prix to Hungary.

"Also, with the spares situation we had at the beginning of the season, up to race seven or eight, we fell a bit behind in production and therefore we don’t have enough parts for two cars.

"We struggle with spare parts for one car so hopefully we can get it done and bring it to Hungary."

Steiner added that both Haas cars should be running the new package at Spa, after Formula 1's summer break

"We want to get some data before the summer break so we have something to work from when we get back, and if all goes well we’ll have it on both cars," he said.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.