Formula 1: Haas set incredibly odd, rare trend in worst season

Haas set a very odd and never-before-seen trend with drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in what was the worst season in the team’s four years in Formula 1 thus far.

The 2019 Formula 1 season was Haas’ fourth season in the sport, and it was by far their most disappointing.

From their strange and long-drawn-out ordeal with former title sponsor Rich Energy to their overall lack of speed, 2019 was a year to forget for the sport’s lone American team.

Up until this past season, Haas had made improvements from year to year. They finished in eighth place in the constructor standings in the 2016 season with 29 points. They placed eighth again in the 2017, but with 47 points, then last year, they placed fifth with 93 points.

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This year, their third season with the driver pairing of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, they placed ninth with 28 points ahead of only lowly Williams in last, and they scored points in only five races, matching their all-time low from the 2016 season, which also featured 21 races.

The Spanish Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix were the only two races in which Magnussen and Grosjean both scored points. Magnussen’s best finish was his sixth place finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix while Grosjean’s best result was his seventh place effort in the German Grand Prix.

When the season ended, Magnussen and Grosjean were both on lengthy scoreless streaks. Magnussen ended the year with no points in the final five races, last scoring two points with a ninth place effort in the Russian Grand Prix, and Grosjean ended the year with no points in the final 10 races, last scoring six points with his seventh place effort in the German Grand Prix.

Magnussen finished the season in 16th place in the driver standings with 20 points while Grosjean finished two positions and 12 points behind him in 18th with eight.

But aside of the 2019 being a disastrous season for Haas, that is one thing they can say they achieved this year: both of their drivers matched their car numbers with their point totals, something that a pair of teammates had never done.

Hey, it’s something.

Driver numbers were introduced on a full-time basis ahead of the 1974 seasons, and starting 40 years later in the 2014 season, drivers were required to select a number before entering their first race to use throughout their entire Formula 1 careers. Magnussen drives the #20 Ferrari-powered VF-19 and Grosjean drives the #8 Ferrari-powered VF-19.

Individual drivers had matched their car numbers with their point totals before. Grosjean himself entered the 2019 season having done it with eight points in the 2014 season when he drove for Lotus, and Marcus Ericsson just did it last year with his nine-point season driving for Alfa Romeo Sauber.

But the Haas pair are the first teammates to do it in the same year, and that odds that this will ever happen again are infinitesimal.

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As bad as Haas’ 2019 Formula 1 season was, at least they have this random trend that had never previously been recorded to their credit. But for their sake, hopefully the 2020 season will be a lot more meaningful for the organization than arbitrary numbers matching up with other arbitrary numbers.

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