The issues that compromised Friday’s running at the Circuit of the Americas had a knock on effect for Esteban Gutierrez as he and his Haas F1 Team struggled during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Mexican racer will start down in fourteenth, much lower than their pre-race target of the top ten, and Gutierrez revealed that the team have been forced into running with their old front wing, which as showed last time out was not as good as the upgrade wing that the team raced in Japan.
Gutierrez expects the tough weekend to continue into Sunday’s race, but is focused on getting the best possible result from the event.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend for the team,” said Gutierrez. “We struggled a lot on Friday. Today we focused and gave it everything we’ve got and this is the best result we could get.
“Unfortunately, we lost some parts on Friday and we’re not using our new front wing, so that’s a few tenths that could have helped us get into Q3, which is what we’re looking for.
“In the end, it all comes down to focusing and driving as quickly as possible. This is what I did today and it’s what I’m going to do tomorrow to try to get the best result for the team.”
