Breaking news
Formula 1 Russian GP
Haas plans to run only "hybrid" Melbourne spec in Russia
Haas hopes to put both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen on to its hybrid Melbourne-spec car for the Russian Grand Prix as part of its ongoing bid to get to the bottom of what’s gone wrong this year.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Sep 24, 2019, 3:45 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Grosjean was moved across to that version in Singapore, which features the floor, bargeboards and rear wing that Haas started the season with, along with latest sidepods and front wing.
The team only had one version of that package available last weekend, but now hopes to be able to shift Magnussen across as well for the Sochi event.
Asked by Motorsport.com what the plan was for after Singapore, team principal Gunther Steiner said: “It is a hybrid [now]. It is not the clear Australia spec any more, because we couldn’t do that as we would always need to change the chassis.
“Kevin’s car wasn’t slow [in Singapore] and we need to analyse both cars over the race, but at the moment the plan is that we go back to the spec Romain ran, with both cars. That was planned before already.”
Read Also:
- Haas in talks with Kubica over test/simulator role
- Russell: "Shame" Grosjean clash didn't also ruin his race
Haas has decided that the hybrid Melbourne spec is its best solution because it has learned that developments it introduced since the start of the season failed to produce any step forward in performance.
Steiner has admitted that if Haas had used its latest car at the start of the season, it would not have delivered any more speed.
“It wouldn’t be any better,” he said. “There would maybe a different profile of how it works but it wouldn’t be any better.”
The problem has been traced back to a windtunnel correlation issue, where performance unlocked back at base is not delivered with the real car.
The team is now in a race against time to understand why that is, so that the problem is not repeated with its 2020 challenger.
“We are working on it,” added Steiner. “We know we have a problem but we think that we are getting there. We will do some testing during the year for the remaining races to find out why it is doing what it is doing or why this correlation issue is there.”
Asked if there was pressure to come up with the answer quickly, Steiner said:”Absolutely. I think if in the next two to four races we find something, we are still good.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bottas: Mercedes can learn from breach of "clear procedure"
Next article Todt yet to see "solid" new team interest for F1 2021
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Latest news
MotoGP Australian GP: Marc Marquez recovers from crash to take pole at wet Phillip Island
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
49 min
MotoGP Australian GP: Marc Marquez recovers from crash to take pole at wet Phillip Island
No factory Honda bikes in Australian GP as Luca Marini withdraws due to virus
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
No factory Honda bikes in Australian GP as Luca Marini withdraws due to virus
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe