Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu said there was “no performance gained” with the team’s cars that were disqualified from the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
After posting the 12th and 15th fastest times in Q2, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were sent to the back of Sunday’s grid when it was found both Haas machines had non-compliant DRS.
The rules state that the outer ends of the movable elements of the wing must not exceed 85mm, but both the Haas cars exceeded this on both ends upon a check.
Komatsu conceded that whilst no performance was gained by the illegal rear wing element, rules are rules.
“There was no performance gained, absolutely zero, but that’s not the point,” Komatsu said (via Autosport).
“The car has to be legal.
“We just have to accept this as a failure of the team, and then learn from it, and make sure we don’t make the same mistake again.”
The “mistake” came about due to a lack of communication between the design team and Haas’ trackside operation.
A new concept rear wing was brought to the streets of Monaco meant that elements of the wing sloped up towards the endplate and this needed to be considered when setting the DRS on the car.
“If the designers had made it absolutely clear that the design intention was slightly different from the wings you have been using before, so you have to check it in this way, that would have helped,” Komatsu said.
“But at the same time, even with other information, the trackside checks should have checked the whole legality surface.
“For the designer who designed it, in his mind it’s clear: ‘this wing is legal, but it’s got a different profile’. So he needed to think, ‘should I communicate that to make sure that other people who didn’t design the thing understand it?’
“For the trackside people, if they had had that highlighted, it would have helped.
“But even without that, with a brand-new rear wing, just don’t assume anything. You just have to check every single legal surface: that’s what we should be doing.
“So again, a bit of complacency, a bit of assumption, without actually thinking ‘Okay, this is the new rear wing, it could be different.’ We just need to improve working as a team.”
Haas’ qualifying blunder wasn’t the most painful part of its weekend.
Magnussen’s Lap 1 tangle with Sergio Perez triggered a three-car crash that also caught out Hulkenberg and the team suffered a double DNF with its race barely underway.
A scoreless round in Monaco leaves Haas with seven points so far this season and seventh in the Constructors’ standing.
