Haas fully 'prepared' for pitstops after 2018 blunder

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says the US outfit made a point of practicing its pitstops over the winter after last year's double blunder in Melbourne.

Both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were heading towards a productive top-six finish in last year's race when the pair suffered unsafe pitstops that ruined their race and cost the team a €10,000 fine.

The Haas crews failed miserably, twice! A costly mishap that Steiner blamed on a lack of practice. For this year, the team doubled-down on its preparation.

• The Haas boys offer their hopes for the season ahead

“We obviously haven’t forgotten last year’s pit stops in Australia, which went wrong," said Steiner ahead of next week's season-opening event.

"This year we’ve put a lot of emphasis on arriving there prepared.

"We brought a 2018 car to our car build in Italy so we could train every day and work on pit stops.

"We did the same in Barcelona, as the current car is not always available for pit stop practice when you test. Every day the whole crew practiced around 10 to 12 pit stops a day."

Queried on Formula 1's new rules package and its potential impact on overtaking, Steiner is on the sidelines for now, insisting several races will be required to assess the changes.

"The aim of the regulation change was to make passing easier, but the proof is in the pudding," he added.

"We’ll only really see after three or four races how it works out. Australia, in general, is a very difficult track to pass at – probably one of the most difficult ones.

"If it doesn’t work there, we shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it will not work for the whole year. We need to see if it works or not, and you only really find these things out in race situations."

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