Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said the pit stop errors which cost it a double points finish in Australia were partly down to overconfidence.
Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen retired from the race having run fourth and fifth after they were released from the pit box with cross-threaded wheel nuts.
“We didn’t practice in Australia, we made mistakes in our decisions which then ended up to be a mistake on the car.”
Steiner also confirmed the team has added an extra fail-safe measure and swapped some of its crew around to prevent a repeat of what happened in Melbourne. “We put an additional person in so that if it isn’t caught we can stop the car, push it back and put it right.”
The team has also “swapped a few positions” among the three-person crews which change the tyres on each corner of the car. “The main reason is not because they did the mistake but getting their confidence back,” Steiner explained.
“Because if you keep on doing the same and the guys are not confident the risk that you have a mistake again is high. So we swapped positions, you pair different people and give them different jobs, because you need so many people anyway, and that is what we did for this race, and that is what we are doing since yesterday practicing.”
The team needs to prioritise consistent pit stops over outright performance, Steiner added.
“We need to make sure that we get the wheels on even if it takes half a second longer. What we need to do is solid stops, we don’t need 2.4 second stops, we need solid three-second stops. Then if we do them in 2.7 it’s fine but we’re not going for the 2.3 or 2.4 stops.”
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Mach1 (@mach1)
5th April 2018, 15:04
The problem was clearly that someone at Hass forgot to ask for the wheel guns that fitted the 2017 Ferrari!!
An easy mistake to make under the circumstances!
;)
erikje
5th April 2018, 15:07
Cross threaded or in both situations in the “loose” position. Forgot to change the direction and noticed it immediately but it was already to late.
Eurico Goncalves (@eurico-goncalves)
5th April 2018, 15:14
As an upside, they set a new record!
Lithos (@lithos)
5th April 2018, 17:10
BTW, does anybody know what has happened to radio transcripts?? Or where to find them if no longer here?
Esploratore (@esploratore)
5th April 2018, 23:40
True, would like to see them too, I heard they would be published a bit later, but at this point not sure any more cause it’s almost bahrain race.
BasCB (@bascb)
6th April 2018, 7:14
I think they are just too much work (sitting in front of the TV/screen, watching the coverage and writing them all down, then double checking etc) to do?
Maybe @keithcollantine can get someone to volunteer to do them? Although they would also need access to all the footage.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
5th April 2018, 23:41
Ahah, haas observing ferrari pit crew in bahrain on the picture, with good reason!
Todfod (@todfod)
6th April 2018, 6:27
I’m wondering how long before they have led lights, either on the wheel nut, or on some display, to inform the pit crew whether the wheel has been attached properly or not.