Formula 1

“I’m not really sure what to expect in Montreal” – Haas’ Guenther Steiner

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Credit: Andy Hone / LAT Images

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one the Haas F1 Team won’t be remembering anytime soon, after Mick Schumacher finished fourteenth and Kevin Magnussen retired from the race.

It was a disappointing weekend in Baku for the American team, who failed to show the pace and promise which they’ve already managed on several occasions this season.

Team Principal Guenther Steiner, reflected on the previous round ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

“We were actually surprised how good the car came along on Sunday for the race, with Kevin fighting for points, but then we had the mechanical failure with the PU. In general, on Friday we didn’t start off on the right foot, we were a little bit off – more than a little bit – but on Saturday we got it in the right region where we needed to be. 

“Where we suffered most was on the straight, other people did a better job on low downforce going down the straights, so the whole weekend we suffered a little bit there. If qualifying hadn’t been compromised by the red and yellow flag we encountered, it could’ve been a better race but nevertheless, before the failure we were in a very good position to score points so I’m not too upset, I’m more disappointed that we had another DNF.” 

This weekend represents the first race in Canada since 2019, after COVID-19 saw the cancellation of the Canadian GP in back-to-back seasons. Steiner is very happy to be returning to Montreal, where he would like to see a return of the famous raft race!

“It’s always nice to go back to Canada, it’s always a nice event. I say nice because people really like that we go there and they see it as a great event for their city and the entire F1 community loves Montreal. It’s always a good race with a good atmosphere and in general just a good place.

“With the raft race, these days I just don’t think there is the time anymore to do these types of things. It’s unfortunate but we have to go with the times, the team cannot just make the time up to create a raft – at the moment it’s not doable but maybe one day it returns.”

Porpoising as been the main topic in the paddock this season, with the issue becoming worse than ever before at the recent race in Baku. A number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, suffered from back pain as a result of the aggressive bouncing.

Steiner is expecting it to be bad again this weekend, at a track where the surface is known for being bumpy.

“Porpoising is so different from race track to race track. In Barcelona, it seemed that everyone had found a solution for it but then we go back to Baku and we haven’t got one, so I’m not really sure what to expect in Montreal. I think it’s part of the package of the car and I’m sure that there are enough intelligent engineers in Formula 1 that sooner or later, hopefully sooner, we get in control of porpoising. 

“We suffer it a little bit, maybe a little bit less than some other teams but maybe more than others so we just work on each track, giving drivers the best ride possible with the best performance because it’s all down to performance. If you compromise performance you can get a very comfortable ride out of it, but who wants to do that? Let’s see when we go out in FP1 where we are, but we all know Canada is pretty bumpy, so if it’s bumpy it doesn’t normally get better, but let’s wait and see.”

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