A nightmare weekend at Haas F1 Team

“In the last four years, I think this was our worst weekend. » Günther Steiner, Haas Team Principal F1 Team, never shy of small declarations, did not pull any punches when describing the Var weekend of his team.

With only one 17th place for Kevin Magnussen as a result, the American team having decided to renounce Romain Grosjean, the balance sheet is clearly bad, but it is the ability of the VF19 to show itself at the tempo which is worrying.

“In the race, we still had difficulty, recognizes Steiner. I do not know why. What's strange to me is that a car good enough to qualify seventh and eighth in the first race, then sixth in Monte Carlo, suddenly finds itself in second-to-last position.

Don't ask me what it is, I don't know. We have to find out and it is very disappointing to find ourselves in this situation, but the worst thing is not to understand the meaning of it. It was much worse than Montreal, because already on Friday and in qualifying we were not good. At least in Montreal during qualifying we had placed a car in Q3. »

As for Romain Grosjean, the pill is difficult to swallow, after having given up in front of his audience, in a race which had already not smiled on him in 2018, while Magnussen had secured 6th place twelve months ago.

“I got the most out of the car, but it just wasn't good enough, admits the Frenchman. Although the balance seemed pretty good, we were very slow. We have to analyze everything, try to understand. We were just struggling.

It's hard to give up in front of your audience, but at least we saved some pieces. We were far from the points, and I think it was the right decision. »

Potential consolation for Romain Grosjean, he will return this weekend to Austria, a circuit where he had obtained the best result of a car Haas since the arrival of Gene Haas's team in F1. It's up to the Frenchman and his team to reverse the current trend, little to the advantage of the Star-Spangled Banner team.

Discover the full report and analysis of the French Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents at Le Castellet, in issue 2222 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.