Grosjean mystified by Haas handling issues

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With the exception of the championship point collected in Austin last week, Romain Grosjean's season seems to be going from bad to worse with the Haas driver starting last in today's Mexican GP.

The Frenchman kicked off his weekend in Mexico with a fairly good performance level but it was pretty much downhill on Saturday.

“The car was good in FP1 and it was alright on the first run this morning in FP3, but after that it’s just gone nowhere," admitted Grosjean.

"We really need to try to analyse what’s going on as something is clearly not going right. Last on the grid is unacceptable for us."

Grosjean and Haas were at a loss to explain why the team's VF-16 balance had progressively deteriorated, but were determined to thoroughly look into the issue.

"We’re investigating a few possible things on the car, hopefully we'll find something because it would mean quite a bit to all of us.

"Top speed has been fine, but there’s no grip and no balance. You can manage poor grip and drive around it if you’ve got a balanced car, but combined, there’s just nothing you can do.

"One corner will be oversteer, the next understeer. It’s weird the way it’s behaved here. It’s been a rough weekend for everyone, but hopefully we can come back."

Unfortunately, race strategy may not prove a valuable tool to help elevate the team's performance as the team's setup issues cloud tyre choice.

"I think everyone is expecting graining. Last year there was a lot of front graining initially in the weekend and then in the race there was rear graining.

"Is it going to switch to that like last year? It’s a very hard call to decide which aero balance to start with."

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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.