Haas F1 Team are positive heading into the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this weekend.
With the team now running identical setups for the first time in three races, drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen appeared content about how this translated into performance on
“Well, I don’t think we had a choice for the low-downforce races, but I was actually quite happy with the package. We’re working in a good direction as a team. I think we now have a really clear understanding of what’s happening and what we need to do for the future, so that’s positive,” said the Frenchman.
Similarly, Magnussen said: “We ran the newest spec in Belgium, which was good to have both cars running it, in order to compare across the cars. We also had to do it, as we can’t run a low-downforce spec with the old spec car. It was a natural decision, but good for the future.”
The Dane added that similar tracks – such as Spa-Francorchamps, do not always help with the development of car setups, as the car will drive very differently.
“Yes and no. We run the car with even lower downforce in Monza, so it’s not going to be the same car, but there are some things you can carry over with setup. Feeling the car at low downforce at Spa gives you an idea as to how it will feel in Monza.”
At this point in the season, teams are switching their focus to the development of next year’s car. Team principal Gunther Steiner believes the building blocks of the sport should stay the same, amid significant changes to technical regulations.
“I think we have to be careful that we’re not changing the DNA of Formula One, which is about developing your own car.
I think as long as we have a cost cap like the one proposed now going into 2021, standardisation doesn’t really make sense. Everybody should be free to spend their money where they want.
If we have some standard parts where we level the playing field, like pit equipment, that’s OK, but on the car, the DNA of Formula 1 means your own development,” he said.
