The ‘almost certain’ Haas driver line-up for F1 2024 after getting ‘hands burned’

Mark Scott 13 Aug 2023 10:00 PM

Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg wave to the fans at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Respected F1 correspondent Lawrence Barretto thinks Haas will not be tempted to make any changes to their driver line-up for the F1 2024 season.

Experienced duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg are both out of contract at the end of the F1 2023 campaign, but Haas will have the option to trigger one-year extensions for the two drivers.

And, according to Barretto, that is an extremely likely scenario expected to play out as teams get their driver pieces in place for the F1 2024 grid.

Unchanged Haas driver line-up ‘almost certain’

“Having had their hands burned trialling an inexperienced line-up that brought funding, Haas have flipped back to experience,” Barretto said in hislatest driver market columnfor the official F1 website.

“It’s paying dividends with the American team in the fight to finish seventh in what would be their best finish since 2018. It’s almost certain they will name an unchanged line-up for 2024.”

Barretto also disclosed that talks are ‘ongoing’ and ‘believed to be very positive’ between Kevin Magnussen and the team, while Nico Hulkenberg is ‘close’ to agreeing a new contract after impressing during his first full F1 season back since 2019.

Team owner Gene Haas was present at both recent races in Hungary and Spa, with the futures of their current two drivers no doubt near the top of the agenda.

Are Haas making the right decision if they retain their current line-up?

On reflection, the answer is yes…just about. Nico Hulkenberg has been excellent since joining Haas and gave the team even more confirmation that the old double rookie line-up of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin was simply the wrong way to go ahead of the F1 2021 season.

The question mark over Kevin Magnussen, however, will have grown a little larger with each passing race – but he is still doing just enough to warrant keeping his spot on the grid for at least another year.

同时Hulkenberg Magnusse光工作n in this year’shead-t0-head qualifying battle,the race day duel is a lot closer. This race day factor, along with Magnussen’s strong connection with a team he knows very well, will be doing a lot of heavy lifting to ensure his seat in Formula 1 is secure.