Grosjean and Haas 'shocked' by Ferrari engine deficit in qualifying

Mattia Binotto, team principal of the Team, readily admitted it last week: the Ferrari engine gives some 0”7 to its counterpart Mercedes in qualifications and not much less in blocks Renault and Honda. 

At Haas, one of Maranello’s client teams with Alfa Romeo, Romain Grosjean can only see the damage. 

« Since the winter tests, we know that when we go into qualifying mode, it doesn't push as much as last year, recognized the Frenchman during a video conference with representatives of the French press. It is certain that we are in difficulty on the straights. It really shocked us in qualifying, not so much in the race, but on Saturday there was a big difference ».    

In addition to the Ferrari engine running out of steam, Haas also suffered brake problems, which precipitated the retirement of Grosjean and his teammate. Kevin Magnussen during the Austrian Grand Prix last Sunday. 

The American team has been working on solutions that it will test this weekend as part of the Styrian Grand Prix. Fixes which could, however, affect the performance of the VF-20.

« We have some first ideas that we are going to try, added the Genevan. If they don't work, we have emergency measures that will need to be put in place. We tried to do our best with the means at hand. This revolves around brake cooling. I can't go into too much detail.

The two cars will have slightly different configurations to begin with. We will see if the first is sufficient or if we need to move on to the second which represents a loss in terms of performance but should help. If we find ourselves in the same situation as last weekend, we will not finish the race ». 

Asked if he feared another difficult season at Haas after last year's setbacks, Grosjean admitted that it was " a possibility » and that we should take stock after the first 3 races. “ We didn't get off to a great start, that's for sure. ». 

Pretty understatement.