Romain Grosjean reckons Haas’ decision not to bring updates to its 2020 Formula 1 car for the foreseeable future may allow the squad to be more focused each weekend.
Haas endured a fraught 2019 campaign in which it slumped from fifth to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of only Williams.
Haas struggled with the upgrade packages it brought to its VF-19 and spent a sustained spell of the campaign with different specifications on Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen’s cars as it sought to unearth a solution.
Team Principal Guenther Steiner revealed last month that Haas was not bringing any updates to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix and was unlikely to bring upgrades due to the uncertainty of the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Haas’ approach, Grosjean said: “We know that Formula 1 is about bringing development and bringing new parts but I mean last year I finished the last race with the kit I started the year on so sometimes an update isn’t going to work the way you want.
“So, yes it’s great to have new parts, it’s good to improve performance but it doesn’t always work and it can put you…you focus on the wrong place.
“At the minute I’m glad we can go racing and let’s go racing, and let’s see how quick the car is, and how quick we can make it, and then see if we can bring parts.”
Haas persisted with its flawed update package for several grands prix in 2019 prior to changing its strategy and Grosjean reckons lessons learned through last season will aid its prospects through 2020.
“I think we’ve had a very good look at everything and I believe now we’ve got a better way of understanding issues and getting in line with the drivers’ comments,” said Grosjean.
“Because at the end of the day we’re the ones driving the car and early on [in May 2019] we felt like something was a bit off and it took more time to find out, to know we have a process to operate quicker and faster we know where to look.
“I think we have great confidence that we have a much better understanding of the situation if it happens again and then we can react quicker.
“The first feeling from testing was pretty good, and again in winter testing we tried many different things on the car, we didn’t focus at all on getting the fastest lap time on the track but more with having to understand every single aspect of the car and putting it in different positions.”
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