Haas’ Romain Grosjean says his team’s main focus is to get its whole VF-19 package to perform in this week’s French Grand Prix after a series of inconsistent outings.
The US outfit implemented several aerodynamic upgrades back in Barcelona which have proven to be productive.
However, the team’s chronic tyre issues have undermined the progress achieved in terms of chassis development.
The end-result is a campaign so far dominated by the team’s frustrating lack of consistency.
“I think it’s been an interesting year – not the one we were hoping for at the beginning,” says Grosjean ahead of his home race.
“We’ve got a very good car. We’ve had some very good races, but we’ve also had some bad luck and a car that’s been very complicated to use sometimes.
“So, our performance has been a bit up and down, which is not what we were looking for after last year where we were very consistent.
“We’re working really hard trying to understand that and to get the best from the VF-19.”
As far as the Frenchman is concerned, what Haas needs to pull off a good result is a solid overall package with all components working together.
“The upgrades have worked well from Barcelona onward, and I think they work well everywhere,” added Grosjean.
“France will definitely be a circuit where the aerodynamics are more important – more so than Monaco and Montreal – so yes, it will be a good test.
“Again though, our main focus is getting the whole package working, meaning tyres and so on.
“We just have to keep learning, keep improving and keep getting the relationship with my engineers better and better. It’s only seven races we’ve done together as a new group.
“Obviously, when the tyres are working things are smooth and easy, but when they’re not, things are very complicated.”
In purely sporting terms, Grosjean owes his French fans a good showing on home turf after his botched weekend in 2018 that saw him screw up his qualifying and collect a penalty for an incident on race day with Esteban Ocon.
“I’m hoping for a better result, as last year was not the race I wanted,” he said..
“So, let’s hope it’s a good weekend, a good race, make sure we don’t spend too much energy outside the track, but on the other hand, I want to share a lot with the fans.”
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