Grosjean reassured by Haas consistency

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Romain Grosjean is happy with the consistency that the Haas F1 team has shown so far in 2017.

The team has been struggling to get on top of brake issues in the first four Grand Prix races. However, Grosjean feels that Haas is well placed to make forward progress now Formula 1 is back in Europe.

“Generally, if you look at the first three races," Grosjean said. "We’ve been really consistent, really good.

"I would say that I’m pretty pleased with the way we’ve started the year. I’m pleased with where the car is."

Grosjean didn't have a fun time in the most recent Grand Prix in Russia. He'd been struggling throughout the weekend even before he crashed out at turn 1 after contact with Renault's Jolyon Palmer.

"Sochi was a peculiar one," he admitted. "We struggled a little bit with the car. I struggled with my driving.

"We can analyse a lot from it. I don’t think it’s down to inconsistency, as it was last year," he insisted.

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While the team hasn't enjoyed the sort of success it did in its maiden year - Grosjean has finished in the points only once in 2017, and has two DNFs - the Frenchman is still upbeat about their form.

"We’re usually on the border line for getting into Q3. Now the big question is what the updates are going to do? How much of an upgrade are we going to get compared to others?"

Grosjean added that the new tyre and aerodynamic regulations brought in over the winter had certainly made a difference. However, things were now starting to settle down again as the new season goes on.

“As we saw in winter testing, and then in Melbourne to begin the season, we got a big surprise with the speed we can carry through the corners with the car.

"After a few races, though, you forget that and move on to what we have now. There are a few circuits, such as the non-permanent ones, where it’ll be fast. But most of the other ones, the grip and speed feels normal.”

"I believe we’re on a good path," he added. "But you never know what the others are doing. It’s going to be good to go to Barcelona and see the work we’ve done.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.