Steiner: We always believed in Grosjean

Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner said that he always knew Romain Grosjean would overcome the slump had that kept him out of the points for the first eight races of 2018.

“We always said we gave him our confidence," Steiner said, after Grosjean finished in fourth place in Austria.

"He did good for us for a long time and we knew he would be coming back to be the Romain he was last year.

“Sure if he would have 50 points now his confidence would be higher, but now he knows he needs to work hard and he can get points.”

While some of Grosjean's pointless outings had been out of his control - such as retirement in Australia due to an improperly fitted wheel - there had also been too many self-inflicted wounds for the French driver.

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He crashed out of a points position in Baku while behind the safety car, and triggered a first lap pile-up in Montreal. He was out of the first lap of the French Grand Prix after clashing with Esteban Ocon.

Steiner admitted that the run of misfortune had understandably played on Grosjean's mind.

“We spoke about it and said, ‘Just keep on doing what you’re doing and it will come to us’," he said.

“I think the team was always behind me and supporting me,” Grosjean concurred. “When everyone was asking questions and saying, 'Are you going to change Grosjean?' and so on, the team knew we had two superb seasons [together in the past].

“Obviously this one didn't start as we wanted, but I didn't lose confidence."

Grosjean's success together with fifth place for team mate Kevin Magnussen has boosted Haas into fifth place in the constructors' championship. Now the challenge is to continue that run of success this weekend at Silverstone.

“It’s a really cool track, especially the fast part through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel corners," Grosjean said.

"When you have the grip in the car there, you really get the sensation of the g-forces. Everything’s pushing down.

"You really want to get the first part of the flowing corners right. If you don’t, you just lose a lot of time.

"When the car is very stable and has good balance, you can go flat-out and really push it to the limit.

"The thing about Silverstone is really the difference between a well-balanced car and an unbalanced car," he added. "That’s where the opportunity lies.”

While Grosjean hasn't finished in the top ten at Silverstone since his début there in 2012, Steiner believes that the VF-18 could be well-suited to the circuit.

“Our car seems to be best at high-speed circuits," he explained. "And with Silverstone being one of them, for sure we’re hoping to have a good result there, as well.

"Some cars like slow circuits, some like fast corners, and ours seems to like the fast corners a lot better than the slow ones," he said. "I think it’s just the aero characteristics."

And Steiner added that the team was looking forward to completing the last of three consecutive weekends of Grand Prix racing, which has been a gruelling challenge for all concerned.

"With three events in a row, it’s quite good that it’s the last one," he said, adding that it was a bonus that for many team personnel it's effectively their home Grand Prix, taking place just 30 minutes away from its European base of operations.

"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!"

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