0
Haas' struggles in 2019 are related to the Pirelli tyres being unable to escape their graining phase, according to its team principal Guenther Steiner.
The American squad has just one top-ten finish to its name so far this year, which came at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at the hands of Kevin Magnussen.
Drivers' WhatsApp Group Has "Exploded" as GPDA Confirms Widespread Frustration With 2026 Rules
Analysis: Verstappen Has Become More Vulnerable Under the 2026 Rules
Since then, the team has struggled with its pace, with Baku providing a tough weekend for Haas, who was lacking over both one lap and race pace.
"We will fix this problem obviously, but it's just like, we were fast at the test, we were fast in Australia, and in the moment we seem not to get it right," Steiner said.
"Everybody's got issues with the tyres, you can see, you go into the graining phase.
"When we go into the graining phase, we cannot get out of it anymore, because our tyre then gets too cold and then we are done, we just slide around.
"We've got four or five laps [where] we go fast, then the graining starts to go. Other people recover after the graining, we don't, because our temperature is too low and we just cannot get it to work anymore once the graining clears."
Graining is more prominent in the softer tyres, however Steiner says that Haas was struggling with the C3 compound as well as the C4.
"When Kevin got out on the new mediums, he was pretty competitive for five, six, seven laps, and then the graining happens.
"I can tell you our lap time on the temperature graph of the tyre. I don't need to look at the lap time. I can tell you where the tyre goes that we go slow."
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
I. Hadjar
A. Antonelli
C. Leclerc
Replies (0)
Login to reply