Haas will practice more stopping

While Haas F1 Team was aiming for the Top 6 with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen at the Australian GP, the American team was the victim of a double retirement after the stops. Team Principal Günther Steiner blames the lack of pit stop training.

Published on 26/03/2018 à 07:57

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Haas' double retirement F1 Team was the highlight of the Australian GP. While Romain Grosjean et Kevin Magnussen were fighting for the Top 6, the two drivers of the American team retired in quick succession after their passage to the pits. Gene Haas' team was fined €10 for relaunching the VF-000s on the track without respecting safety procedures.

Although a mechanical problem was initially suspected, it later turned out that Haas experienced a nut fixing problem on both cars within seconds of each other.

“This weekend was very intense for us, recognized Günther Steiner, Team Principal of Haas F1 Team. We encountered problems during the first two test sessions. We didn't have a lot of tires and we didn't practice much on the stops. This could be one of the reasons to explain what happened. »

Haas F1 Team intends to no longer repeat such blunders by practicing pit stops after showing strong potential with its new cars.

“We have the same guys doing wheel changes as last year and they never made any mistakes, underlined Günther Steiner. We have to work harder by training more. The guys will be able to gain confidence from the first tests in Bahrain. It’s a strange incident because it happened on both cars, but we have to keep our heads high because we have a great year ahead of us. We just need to analyze this to make sure it doesn't happen again. »

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2158 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.