Romain Grosjean says the Haas Formula 1 team’s new car for the 2017 season has “huge potential” despite retiring from the first round in Australia.
Both VF-17s failed to reach the chequered flag in Melbourne. Grosjean exited the race with a water leak and new team-mate Kevin Magnussen pulled off with suspension problems late on.
Grosjean put in a strong performance in qualifying to line up sixth on the grid and held seventh before retiring on lap 13.
Nevertheless, the Frenchman was encouraged by the pace of the Haas through the weekend and believes the team has leap-frogged Williams.
“I suddenly lost a lot of power,” he explained. “I told the guys, then the next thing I knew I had to slow down the car.
“We’re all disappointed to lose a seventh-place position, but the car was there in qualifying sixth.
“The start wasn’t ideal, so we need to improve that. I felt I was faster than the Williams, so there’s huge potential in the car.
“I guess the key for us is to keep the momentum and get the consistency we didn’t have last year, where I’d be fifth in Bahrain then 19th in China.
“I really want to improve on that and get more consistency in terms of results. If we do that, then I’m sure there are going to be plenty of races where we can score good points.”
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