Haas has “no clue” about its poor race performance in Austria

Fifth time in qualifying, Kevin Magnussen could have a smile despite his five-place penalty for a gearbox change on his Haas VF19.

The Dane admitted, however, that he did not “know where this trick came from” and took it when it presented itself. But the management of the American team remained cautious about the possible repetition of these performances in the race. Good luck to Günther Steiner's troops.

The next day, the Austrian Grand Prix proved to be much more complicated for the single-seaters of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. 16th and 19th at the finish, the two drivers never found the right formula, struggling almost permanently with grip.

“It is very difficult to understand how grip evolves and how we can make the car go faster, admits Grosjean. I had no grip on the first laps, then no pace at all in the race.

The afternoon was very difficult, without good balance, I fought as hard as I could. We are in a very difficult situation. We will work, we will find out what is wrong, it may take a little time.

I'm sure our guys have the resources to get our problems under control. Obviously, there's just something we're not doing really well. »

The team Haas has struggled since the start of the season with problems using Pirelli tires, the American team being among those wishing for a potential return to 2018 envelopes.

For Günther Steiner, Team Principal of the team, the gap between performances in qualifying and in the race remains a mystery. “After qualifying in fifth position and such a race, I can't say anything other than it's a disappointment.

We will continue to work, trying to better understand why this kind of performance occurs between qualifying and the race. We just don't understand, at the moment we have no clue. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the Austrian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Spielberg, in issue 2223 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and from tomorrow on newsstands.