Romain Grosjean, Haas, Red Bull Ring, 2020

Haas’s loss of qualifying pace “very frustrating” – Steiner

2020 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner admits it has been “very frustrating” to see the team’s qualifying performance dip for reasons out of their control, having addressed the race pace problems they had last year.

The team’s car often slipped down the order on race days in 2019 as they struggled to keep their tyres in the correct operating window. Steiner believes they have solved that problem this year, only to find their one-lap performance has suffered as a result of changes made to its Ferrari power unit in response to new rules introduced for 2020.

Steiner said the team is “a little bit off” its pre-season expectations “because we expect to go faster in qualifying, to be honest.”

“That was our expectation after the Barcelona test,” he said. “So I’m not completely happy with how I expected it to be.”

Following the problems the team encountered last year, Steiner admitted the current situation is “very frustrating”.

“Maybe next year we’ll get a car together which has got the qualifying from last year and the race performance from this year,” he said.

“At some stage we will get it right, I hope. It is frustrating. In the race we are not super competitive but qualifying would put us in a not bad spot because the tyre seems to be working, the drivers manage them pretty good so they are happy about that. We can find the balance.

“It will be difficult this year with what we are given.”

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2020 F1 season

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6 comments on “Haas’s loss of qualifying pace “very frustrating” – Steiner”

  1. “It will be difficult this year with what we are given.”

    Ouch! Most teams design/build their own cars, Haas just has to race what their given.

  2. I think 🤔 the reference is to the engine in particular… If they given a poorer engine than the season before. They have a point at being disappointed… Its not their chassis which yes they buy from dallara with ferrari input…. But the engine is much poorer in its power delivery compared to the previous year… Hence all ferrari powered teams are struggling for pace compared to last year

  3. Maybe next year we’ll get a car together which has got the qualifying from last year and the race performance from this year

    Next year isn’t soon enough, you need to be working on improving this year’s car now. Being complacent isn’t good enough in F1.

  4. “only to find their one-lap performance has suffered as a result of changes made to its Ferrari power unit in response to new rules introduced for 2020”

    What new rules were introduced? I thought Ferrari were just made to comply with the 2019 rules which they were breaking…

  5. I think brakes aren’t flawless too.

  6. Haas is a mess. Their whole “business model” was to rely as much as possible on the Ferrari F1 hardware to minimize developing costs. Now that Ferrari F1 hardware is crappy, especially the detuned engine, they are screwed.

    Add to that very poor leadership and faulty drivers, and you have a MESS. Team HAASMESS. Would not be surprised if Gene Haas pulls the plug.

    Haas and Williams just exemplify how poor leadership leads to poor results.

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