Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsHaas F1 Team

Haas still building itself up but team is gelling - Steiner

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Haas F1 Team put in an 'all-nighter' to fix the fuel system issue which sidelined Esteban Gutierrez after just 23 laps, but team boss Guenther Steiner belives the US squad's program this week in Barcelona hasn't been derailed.

The team took advantage of its forced inactivity yesterday to conduct deflection tests under the scrutiny of the FIA and will resume its running today with, hopefully, an attempt at a race distance run today or tomorrow, when Romain Grosjena takes over from Gutierrez for the final two days of pre-season testing.

"That I would say is the big one, a race distance without any problems" Steiner said.

"Then, whenever we have time, we will do set-up changes just to make the car go quicker."

Steiner insisted that Haas was still in the process of setting itself up, as it builds its inventory of spare parts and fine tunes its work processes, with a few deadlines to compose with.

"Parts are still coming, they are always coming. I don’t know how many cars are coming from Italy with spare parts.

"We are in parallel building a second car, we need to get everything ready plus the spare parts so it is a rush. It is hard work.

"It’s not just running a car here that the guys have to do, they also have to build car number two and get that ready for Australia so the last freight goes on the 14th.

"But it will happen. In racing it’s got pretty normal now that you get everything done at the last minute. "

But overall, Steiner believes the team's progress has been very positive, with human resources gelling together nicely in the past couple of months.

"When people joined Haas we had all the processes written down. Everybody built the car together,so they gelled together pretty quick because they needed to do a job.

"When people that want to work together it isn’t too difficult because they all come from F1. Just throw the men in the cold water and get them to work."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.