Grosjean urging Haas to change brake supplier

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Haas F1 Team is still struggling to resolve a chronic brake problem which has lingered since last year, with Romain Grosjean hoping a supplier change is in the works.

The issue appears to involve a lack of consistency of Brembo's disc and pad ensemble.

Haas is investigating the possibility of testing Carbone Industrie's product sometime in the neat future to conduct a proper compare, although the team briefly experimented with Carbone in Brazil last year.

For Grosjean, who ditched his VF-17 in the gravel trap at Turn 5 this morning on the ultimate day of pre-season testing, a supplier change can't happen soon enough.

"I'm not going into detail, but I don't like it," the Frenchman told Motorsport.com.

"I can't wait to get back to something different. Now, when will it arrive? I don't know."

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Brake issues notwithstanding, Grosjean is pleased with the progress so far of the US outfit's VF-17 car, although the team is still trying to iron out an understeer characteristic generated by the new chassis.

"Yeah, we are struggling a bit with understeer," he said.

"We need to understand why. We've been trying a lot of different set-ups and a lot of different things, assessing what tools do what.

"You don't need a perfect set-up here in winter testing, but we want to be able to know, if we change the rear suspension geometry or the front stiffness, what does it do, and so on."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.