Romain Grosjean says Haas' disappointing year has brought many lessons to the US outfit, but the Frenchman has singled out one key takeaway from 2019.
From the outset, from its engineers to its drivers, Haas has struggled to tame its temperamental VF19 and fought to get on top of the latter's inconsistent performance and tyre issues.
The team's upgrade introduced in Barcelona at the start of the European season was the starting point of its massively frustrating and season-long battle with its 2019 contender.
Team boss Guenther Steiner recently admitted that he should have perhaps "listened a bit more" to his drivers after that point in time.
Of all the lessons learned by Haas during this challenging year, better communication was undoubtedly the most important one according to Grosjean.
"I think this year was positive in that we’ve learned where not to go," says the Frenchman.
"We’ve learned what we need to look for. We’ve learned that communication needs to be key.
"This year, the feeling was that from Barcelona, things obviously didn’t go as expected. Maybe if we’d reacted earlier, things could have been different.
"That’s something we’ve learned this year and, as I’ve said, that’s the first time we’ve been in this situation.
"It’s not easy to adjust and to know what to do, but now we’re much better prepared for the future. I’m very much looking forward to 2020."
Grosjean obviously subscribes to the old adage that says that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"The team is getting stronger year on year," he contends.
"Obviously, we had three years where we improved each season. This year – our fourth – it’s been a disappointing season in terms of performance.
"That doesn’t mean that all the work we’ve done behind the scenes isn’t great.
"As I’ve said many times, the team has been working very well and we’ve got the maximum, if not more than the maximum, of the car most of the time.
"We need to see the positives, and that’s that we’ve gotten stronger. We’ve been able to analyze more and we’ve been able to get ready for 2020."
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