Abu Dhabi GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It’s just a great venue. The race starts in the day and finishes in the night. You have sundown in the middle of the race, which is fun. The paddock is amazing. The atmosphere is always good, and you know you’re on holiday after the race as it’s the last one of the season. I’ll still be pushing one last time, though.

Generally, it’s a low-speed corner circuit. The only high-speed corners are Turns 2 and 3. Normally they’re taken flat - easy flat in qualifying. The track has some long straight lines, but you mainly want to focus on getting the low-speed corners correct, especially through the last sector. That’s what you have to focus on in Abu Dhabi.

Race day’s not too bad the way it (the cooling track) changes during the Grand Prix. It’s more in between FP1 and FP2, then FP3 and qualifying, where you’re out at two different times of the day. You have a big difference in track temperature and car behaviour. That’s something you need to keep in mind. We don’t have any data from the past. We won’t know what we’re doing in advance between FP3 and qualifying in terms of aero balance and setting up the car. These are things we have to find
out for ourselves when we get there.

I won there in GT1 (in 2010 with Matech Competition). That was my first-ever GT World Championship start, and the first race with that team, and we won. It was a pretty good moment taking the win and leading the championship.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “It’s luxurious and it’s modern. It’s an incredible track. There was a lot of investment in it. Every time you get there it’s like a whole different world, like a Disneyland more or less. It’s nice to get there and have the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
You have to compromise in the first sector, which is mainly about high-speed corners. Then you have sectors two and three, which are about straight line speed and braking into chicanes and slow-speed corners. You have to manage the tyres, and that’s the most challenging part.

Once you are into the race, it (the track) doesn’t really change much. It changes a lot after three or four o’clock and the sun starts to go down and by the time the race starts it’s already on a very good level. Everything is more stable. The temperatures are more stable, the tyres are working better and, usually, you can manage them better by not overheating them.

You just have to consider how the balance of the car is going to evolve during the race. Basically, what’s the plan going to be in terms of changing the car balance a little bit through the race with the front wing and with all the tools we have in the car.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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