Grosjean not too worried about tyres at 'high energy' Barcelona

Romain Grosjean isn't overly concerned by getting his tyres to work in Barcelona, thanks to the venue's warm temperatures and high energy track.

Haas has struggled in the last few races with a chronic tyre management problem characterized by its VF-19 car's inability to keep its rubber in the optimal operating window.

It's an issue that has baffled the US outfit's engineers and undermined the drivers' confidence and results.

"It’s a lack of grip and a lack of consistency," explained the Frenchman ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

"The latter makes it so that you can’t have any confidence because you can’t push the tyre to its limit. If you do go above the limit, which is very low, it’s a big lock-up or you go off the track.

• Haas VF-19 'still best of the midfield cars', insists Grosjean

"If the tyres don’t work, the car can be as good as you want, but it’s just not going to work.

"Confidence is key in Formula 1, but when your tyres don’t work, there’s no chance you’ll have some."

Barcelona's profile, Haas' performance in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya and a raft of updates to its VF-19 contender offer Grosjean hope that the US outfit will be spared its usual tyre headaches come next race day.

"It’s important to go back to Barcelona because it’s our first European race and we’re bringing big updates on the car," Grosjean adds

"It’s a track with high energy, so I’m not too worried about getting the tyres to work, in theory.

"It’s interesting, as we definitely got them to work in winter testing, going back there and seeing if we can still get them to work will be a good test, because we know the car should be fast there."

However, with regard to its potential relative performance in Spain, Grosjean knows all too well that Haas' midfield rivals will also field updated cars.

"You know everyone’s going to bring big updates, so it’s almost like everyone’s going to have a B-car, therefore the standings could be a bit different," he added.

"I think it’s important that our updates go in the right direction. It’s important, as we know what we can do there. We’ll see if we can repeat that and understand where our race pace has gone."

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