Haas no longer knows which tire Saint to devote to

At the end of convincing winter tests and after a convincing although unlucky Australian Grand Prix, Haas once again seemed able to fight for 4th place in the Manufacturers' standings. Three races later, the young US team seems disoriented, lost, and powerless in the face of its inability to make the tires work, particularly in race configuration. 

From 6th place Kevin Magnussen in Melbourne, Haas did not return to the Top 10 and languished in 8th position in the championship. His team principal Guenther Steiner expected to suffer in Baku last Sunday but that did not alleviate his post-race disappointment. Magnussen could not do better than 13th, while his teammate Romain Grosjean recorded another retirement, caused by brake problems.

« The others manage to exploit the tires; we must be able to do the same, blurted the Italian manager, visibly annoyed. There is no point in saying: “Oh, that’s not working.” Nine teams succeed. Who is doing best? Who is struggling? We are clearly the worst in this area. I am well aware that this is a real concern. It's disappointing because it slows us down. But that's how it is for now. We know the cause, we just need to find the solution ». 

Pressed to reveal more about the origin of the evil afflicting VF-19, Steiner was evasive. The former rally driver especially regrets that tires play such a preponderant role in the competitiveness of current single-seaters. 

« We can sit there talking about it for hours, we know what the problem is, added the main team. It's up to us to solve it. If you ask me what the solution is, I tell you I don't know. Otherwise we would have already implemented it. 

It's annoying because we have a good car. We shouldn't spend so much time talking about tires. It's an interesting subject but it's not what defines the Formula 1 in my eyes. We spend millions to develop these single-seaters and we are parked just because we are not in the right tire window... ». 

Last year, Haas praised the recruitment of Hiroshi Tomitsuka, a former tire engineer at Bridgestone, to explain the consistency that had been lacking since his debut in F1 during the 2016 season. For the moment, Steiner's men have not have not found the key that had unlocked the potential of its previous car.