A rolling stone gathers no moss, and coming into Silverstone Circuit for Sunday’s British Grand Prix, Haas F1 Team is rolling. In only its third year competing in the FIA Formula One World Championship, Haas F1 Team is an impressive fifth in the constructors’ standings nine races into the 21-race calendar. Its tally of 49 points so far this season surpasses its total from all of last year, where it finished eighth in points.
Drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen delivered Haas F1 Team’s best collective result last Sunday in the Austrian Grand prix when Grosjean finished fourth and Magnussen came home fifth. Twelve races still remain in 2018, meaning the advantages and deficits to other teams can still ebb and flow before the curtain drops on Formula One’s 72nd season.
Haas team principal previews the British Grand prix Guenther Steiner.
Haas F1 Team has enjoyed its best results this year at power circuits – fourth last Sunday in Austria, fifth in Bahrain and a pair of sixth-place results in Spain and France. Do those performances heighten your expectations for how the team will perform at Silverstone?
“Our car seems to be best at high-speed circuits, and with Silverstone being one of them, for sure we’re hoping to have a good result there, as well.”
What is it that makes the Haas VF-18 so good at power circuits compared to shorter, more compact tracks?
“I think it’s just the aero characteristics. Some cars like slow circuits, some like fast corners, and ours seems to like the fast corners a lot better than the slow ones.”
Silverstone is a fast track where drivers are able to run full throttle for long periods of time. How do you help them find that edge to determine when they can be flat out and when they can’t?
“They find that edge themselves. If the engineering team gives them a good, stable car, they are not afraid to go flat-out. But they need to be confident that the car will do what they want the car to do, and that is down to the engineering team.”
Weather tends to be a large variable at Silverstone, with hot weather interspersed with cool, blustery and even raw conditions. How do you prepare for temperature swings and weather changes, be it at Silverstone or anywhere else?
“Other than having data together for the tires and how they work in the different temperatures, it’s honestly hard to prepare. The best we can do is keep our eye on it and go with what the weather gives us.”
With Haas F1 Team’s European base being in Banbury, England – about 30 minutes away from Silverstone – how helpful is this location for personnel and for logistics as we near the end of this unprecedented stretch of three straight races?
“Most of the guys are based near the circuit or their home is near Banbury, so it’s actually quite nice for them as most can go sleep in their own bed. Nevertheless, they need to get up early to get into Silverstone and they come back late. With three events in a row, it’s quite good that it’s the last one, for at least they’re near to home.”
The best 4th of July present we could’ve ever asked for. #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/t5kbmQJlFz
— Circuit of The Americas (@COTA) July 2, 2018
