Haas revamps F1 garage to help mechanics

Starting this weekend in Marina Bay, a new island has been constructed in the centre of the garage.
Previously, the Haas set-up had been open plan with nothing to separate the two sides of the garage to house the cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.

The changes will allow each driver’s tyre strategist, race and performance engineers and chief mechanic to work alongside one another to improve communication during a track session.

This new island has also been fitted with cupboards and storage for tools and fuel browsers. As such, when car repairs are required, the equipment will be much quicker to access.

This will save mechanics time as they are no longer required to keep moving back and forth between the garage and back-of-house stores.

Haas acknowledge this new set-up - which has taken a year to go from concept to completion, half the time of other teams - is already used by rival squads but wants to show that it can match aspects of the infrastructure of the larger operations.

As a capital asset, the redesign does not come under the cost cap, but it will reduce operating expenditure and boost the team’s sustainability credentials by saving four tonnes of freight per trip. As a result, Haas reckons this development will pay for itself in under 18 months.

The garage equipment will also be transported by sea, rather than air, from now on.

A new hospitality area has also been added at the rear of the garage so Haas, which carries title sponsorship from MoneyGram, can hosts guests and satisfy partner contractual expectations.

Haas garage

Photo by: Uncredited

The refresh arrives in time for the United States (20-22 October) and inaugural Las Vegas (16-18 November) GPs, two ‘home’ races for the American-owned outfit.

This push to make the team more efficient also prompted Haas to introduce a new pitwall stand, commonly known as a ‘prat perch’, for 2023 to save $250,000 on freight a year.

The stand can accommodate three people rather than the usual six-, seven- and eight-seater arrangements used by other teams. Mercedes is the next smallest with a four-person perch.

Despite Haas’ upgraded garage set-up, team principal Guenther Steiner, team manager Peter Crolla and director of engineering Ayao Komatsu will remain on the pitwall stand.

As part of a late-season development push, Haas will change its VF-23 car concept for the US GP at Austin as it becomes the final team to adopt the downwash sidepod architecture.