Guenther Steiner says there has been no tricks in his Haas F1 Team getting the Pirelli tyres into their correct working window during 2018 but having the benefit of former Bridgestone engineer Hiroshi Tomitsuka has been a huge bonus.
Haas has enjoyed their best season to date in Formula 1, scoring eighty-four points in the opening eighteen races, with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean both having strong performances during the campaign.
Steiner, the team principal of Haas, says the youngest team on the grid has been on a big learning curve since their arrival in Formula 1 at the beginning of 2016, but the acquisition of Tomitsuka has aided them as they seek to get the best out of their rubber each and every weekend.
“There are no tricks, it’s all hard work,” said Steiner. “The addition of one of our engineers, Hiroshi Tomitsuka, has helped a lot in our understanding of the tyres better.
“It’s just a lot of hard work and data crunching to get the tyre working in the best window. What you try to do is get the tyre to the temperature you want to have it for when you cross the start-finish line. At the beginning of the lap, at turn one, you’re already in the temperature window, then you’re not running too hot when you come out of the last turn.
“Every track is different, and every day is different because of the temperature,” added the Austrian. “It’s a very difficult task, and it’s very difficult to do it mathematically. It also involves a lot of driver feeling – what is best to do.
“Then with the traffic coming into play, sometimes you want to achieve a target, but you cannot because you’re on your out-lap in traffic and you cannot achieve the temperatures.
“It’s a very difficult task, but it’s the same for everybody. It’s a lot of planning and there’s a lot of management involved in it.”
