Team Principal of Haas F1 Team, Guenther Steiner, had to try to remain optimistic about his team’s performance at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix – which ended in a double non-finish, despite a stunning seventh position by Romain Grosjean in qualifying.
“It was a disastrous race for us, but not a disastrous weekend,” he commented, referring to the performance of Grosjean in qualifying. “Up to today’s race, our weekend was a good one. But today Romain crashed out on the lap to the grid, so we lost one car even before the start.”
The Frenchman lost control of his car in the dangerous wet conditions on one of the installation laps, and as a result crashed it into the barrier even before the start of the race. “The conditions were tough out there and they played a role in his exit,” commented Steiner.
“Esteban (Gutierrez) had been driving a very good race, but then we had issues with electronics. At one point his MGU-K didn’t work, and then he had to retire his car when his MGU-H didn’t work anymore because of electronic problems.”
Gutierrez’s retirement resulted in a heated exchange between driver and Team Principal in the garage – but Steiner did not mention this, instead turning his focus to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of the month.
“We’re pretty happy to be getting out of here and moving on to the next one,” insisted Steiner.
