Haas boss Guenther Steiner fears the team could be set for another difficult display at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix amid ongoing struggles with tyres.
Haas performed strongly pre-season and delivered on its potential as Formula 1’s standout midfield in Australia, with Kevin Magnussen finishing sixth, a position he also obtained during qualifying in Bahrain.
But Haas has lacked race pace in both Bahrain and China as Q3 appearances went to waste, with both Magnussen and Romain Grosjean slipping outside of the points.
Haas believes its recent difficulties in race trim are down to how the VF-19 uses its tyres and Steiner expressed hope that recent lessons will bear fruit – else it could struggle once more.
“Baku will be another difficult event for us because of the long straight and the slow, low-energy corners,” said Steiner.
“Hopefully some of our solutions will work, which we’ve been working on since the test in Bahrain – to get the tyres into the window. Otherwise, Baku could be another difficult circuit for us.”
“We understand [what the problem is], we just couldn’t find solutions in time for the upcoming events, because you need to develop those solutions and parts.
“Hopefully we’ll get on top of that one, sort the problem, and be as competitive in the race as we are in qualifying.”
Haas has previously had inconsistent performances in Formula 1, which have been pinned on tyre usage, and Steiner added: “I couldn’t say that it’s more difficult than last year because the car is different – we’ve developed a completely new car.
“We just know that we cannot get the tyres to work in the race. How big the window is, and to keep in it, is difficult to define. We definitely don’t get it in the window, so I wouldn’t know what it takes to keep it in the window.”
Haas has scored points in Azerbaijan once during the three-year history of both the team and the grand prix, courtesy of Magnussen taking seventh in 2017.
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