Romain Grosjean: “More adjustment possibilities than last year”

“We are not here to set times and set up the car for testing here. We don't focus on putting the tires in the right usage window, doing a perfect exit lap...

We ride around and see what works, what helps a little, what's a problem. This is to have as many options and tools as possible. »

Romain Grosjean could not be clearer about the intentions of the Haas F1 Team after his first day behind the wheel of a car VF20 which should bring the American team back into positive momentum after a bizarre 2019 campaign, marked by the seal of a car that was inconsistent in its performance depending on the circuits.

The Frenchman and his team wanted to take advantage of the 2020 winter runs to put the new “Yankee” single-seater in all possible situations, including those “uncomfortable” for the driver.

“We didn't try to set the car up to go fast on a lap, but we definitely went through a lot of settings, confides the former Lotus driver, author of a small off-track accident during the day.

I was going on some 12 lap stints, and I knew it was going to be "hell" for 12 laps, because the car wasn't set up as it should be, but it was important to get data and make some progress. correlation. The range of settings is substantial, with more possibilities than last year. Particularly on the suspensions.

I'm quite happy on the long stint at the end of the day, knowing how few adjustments were made. We have a bit of the same feedback with Kevin (Magnussen) and the same limitations. We try to put ourselves in all the situations that are not necessarily optimal for the car and that we may encounter during the race. »

Important work to try to return to a rank more in line with the hopes seen in 2017 and 2018 for Haas F1 Team. Romain Grosjean believes in this regard that the mid-grid competition should be quite competitive this season.

“Qualifying is going to be exciting, he analyzes. All cars are the same in one way or another. When we look at the pontoons, we all have the same air intakes. The three slightly different ones are Mercedes, the Racing Point, which is a 2019 Mercedes, and the Renault with his rather special nose. »

Asked about the major discussion point of yesterday, Mercedes' Dual Axis Steering system, the Frenchman hails the engineering performance of the world champions, but insists that smaller teams cannot afford such development.

“The DDA system is impressive, and Mercedes’ ideas, frankly, hats off! We know that James Allison is really creative. I don't know where they get this, but it's very beautiful. Does this have its place in F1? We can debate it. If they did it, it’s because there is an advantage, if only in top speed.

This removes drag, the rest of the graining, and this influences the wear of the front tires. This can affect cooling. Afterwards mid-pack teams are incapable of developing something like that. »