Romain Grosjean says Haas’ lack of grip in race trim is so pronounced that it is akin to driving in wet weather conditions.
Haas has been able to fight for the leading midfield positions in qualifying but in grands prix this year the outfit has often regressed.
In Austria Grosjean and team-mate Kevin Magnussen tumbled down the order, with Grosjean 16th and Magnussen – who was penalised for lining up on the grid incorrectly – 19th.
It left the team a lowly ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
“It was very, very, very… infinitely very complicated,” said Grosjean when asked about his race by Motorsport Week.
“We will find [a solution], eventually, we will find… it will take some time.
“We were fighting with the Williams early on in the race. I was saying to Kevin it felt like it was raining in the car in the first few laps.
“Literally no grip. No front. No rear. Very, very difficult. The balance was not good either. In Le Castellet the balance was okay but we had slow pace but here [in Austria] there was no balance, no pace.”
Grosjean also revealed that while Haas’ issues are more pronounced in race trim, the VF-19 is also giving him trouble in qualifying.
“I don’t have any feeling in qualifying, there’s always something wrong,” he said.
“[The] Q2 lap was [perfect] except Turn 3 where I lost three tenths just because the front went. There’s no real explanation.
“Kevin is really good in qualifying, he’s doing an amazing job, very good.
“I think in the race it’s the opposite, I manage to get better race pace, but still it’s just on off, some laps it’s up, some laps it’s down, some okay, some not, understeer, next corner oversteer. It’s not like you can build confidence in the car.”
Discussion about this post