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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Gutierrez Confirms Departure From Haas

GUTIERREZ PARTS WAYS WITH HAAS F1 TEAM

    As the driver market continues to fall into place for the 2017 season, another confirmation has been made with Esteban Gutierrez announcing that he will not be racing for American Team, Haas.

    The 25-Year-Old driver from Monterrey, Mexico, first entered Formula 1 in 2013 when he was chosen to be the replacement for Sergio Perez, who was entering his 3rd season with then-titled Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes. Gutierrez raced for 2 years at Sauber before he left the team and joined Ferrari in 2015 as their reserve/test driver. Gutierrez came back to racing this year when Haas signed him and Romain Grosjean.

    Gutierrez announced his departure via twitter with the following message: 

In English: "Dear friends, I want to share with you that I will no longer be with Haas F1 Team for next season. I want to thank all the team and staff, specially Gene Haas for his opportunity to work with them. I wish them all the best. There are two races left, which I intend to enjoy to the fullest and as always, I'll give my best. Special thanks to all my fans and supporters, you will always have a place in my heart. I hope to shortly share my plans for the future. Warm regards!"

En Espanol: "Queridos amigos, quiero compartirles que no seguire con Haas F1 Team para la proxima temporada. Quiero agradecer a todo el equipo, en especial a Gene Haas por esta oportunidad de trabajar con ellos. Les deseo mucho exito. Quedan dos carreras, en las cuales disfrutare cada momento y seguire luchando al maximo. Agradezco profundamente a todos los que me siguen y apoyan, todos ustedes siempre estan en mi corazon. Espero muy pronto poder compartirles mis planes para el futuro. Un fuerte abrazo!"

    Kevin Magnussen is the current favorite to take the now-vacant Haas seat but nothing has been confirmed yet.

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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Quote source: twitter.com/estebangtz

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Brazilian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It’s a pretty tough track with not much opportunity for a rest. Even in the straight lines you can’t rest as much as you would like. You’re at altitude as well, at 800 metres (2,625 feet), so coming from Mexico that’s nothing, but you’re still not at sea level. The weather can be challenging. It can be very warm and humid. It’s a pretty intense challenge but, at the end of the day, that’s what we’re looking for.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “Interlagos is a track that is very nice to drive. There is no real downside to the track. It is not a very long track, but at the same time, it has pretty different corners. Some corners you can use a lot of kerbs, which make it very interesting. It has quite a nice rhythm, so it’s always a very special track.

The (anti-clockwise) direction of the track doesn’t really affect our feeling for it. Sometimes it just shifts a bit of the focus on tyre wear from one side compared to the other, but it’s nothing that should make a difference to us or any other team.

It’s not one of the most physical tracks, but it is quite physical for the neck, and it being anti-clockwise factors into that. The strength goes to the opposite side and all the main straight is not really one straight - it’s a whole corner. In the race I remember my neck getting a good workout.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Mexican GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It was a great atmosphere (last year). During the driver parade, I don’t think I’d ever seen such a big crowd than in the last part of the circuit at the stadium section. It was an awesome race with a lot of fans.

(The track is great fun to drive with huge straights and big braking – everything that I like. Every time we go to a track, it’s a brand-new track to us as a team. Even when we’re coming from a strong race, the next one could be difficult. I always prefer not to have any expectations and see how it goes. With Mexico’s long straight line, that could be to our advantage.

I wasn’t really happy with the race in Mexico last year. I managed to get into the top-10, but I thought with the performance we could have done better. We were struggling with the brakes because of the altitude, which cost us a little bit. But yes, it was a great end to the season and I managed to score points in the last three races. I’m hoping for the same this year.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “It’s a very special week for my whole career. It’s probably one of the best two weeks of my career because it represents so much to racing, to motorsports in Mexico in general, and to me. It’s a kind of connection where I can share my passion for racing and what I do with all Mexicans. I feel grateful for their support. Last year was great. I could live the event from a different perspective, but now it will be even better when I will be racing there. I’m very excited to enjoy that.

It will be important to do the best we can with our car. It’s a track we believe can suit the style of our car, and we’re hoping that will be the case. It’s going to be important to have as much track time as possible to adapt to the circuit.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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US GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “When I started in Formula One I thought it’ll just be one race after the other, then here we are at 100 Grands Prix, 10 podium finishes, a few points and lots of good memories, and some a little more difficult. The good thing is, I don’t know when I’m going to stop, but I think I’ve still got plenty of room in front of me to keep going and to keep trying to win. Definitely 100 Grands Prix is quite something in my lifetime.

I think (this weekend)’s going to be great. I’m very much looking forward to it. America is a huge country and I’m really hoping we can get a lot of fans. Yes, there’ll be an extra pride to be driving for an American team on the circuit, and hopefully getting a good result on Sunday. It’s not that simple to overtake at COTA. You’ve got a huge straight line on the back straight, which helps, of course, with the DRS. The braking into Turn 1 is very wide and you can have some chances there. But, on the other hand, it’s very hard to follow in sector one, and into that very long right-hand side corner before the last two corners.

(Last year’s event) was wonderful. We had a lot of fans and people really came to see the race. It’s a great venue and one of the best new tracks we’ve had in quite a while. The track was great, the city is nice, and it was a very nice experience. There are a lot of bars and concerts going on in the city, and people came from all over the country to see the race. It was amazing.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “It’s important to represent America around the world, but now that we get back home and go to Austin for the US Grand Prix, it’s something very special because we are on American soil. That gives a special touch to our weekend. More motivation and great energy from the people to achieve a fantastic result.

I thought (the venue) was fantastic (last year). It was the United States Grand Prix, but it was also like a Mexican Gran Prix. A lot of Mexicans went there. It’s not far away from my hometown, and that made it a very nice combination because America makes very great events and the atmosphere was very special. I could not have asked for a better experience. Now that we have a full United States Grand Prix and then a full Mexican Grand Prix, the experiences are more intense.

I love the centre of (Austin) and the vibe that’s going on around the whole weekend. In the first year I was there I was the third driver, so in the same kind of way I lived the first season of the Mexican Grand Prix, I lived the Austin Grand Prix. It was really special going around the restaurants and having all the people, everything full and a great atmosphere.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Japanese GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It’s always difficult to say exactly why (Suzuka is my favourite track in the world). I think it’s the flow, the corners, the high-speed nature of the track. There’s a risk as well with all the gravel and the narrow parts of the circuit. Overall though, it’s not one thing, and sometimes you don’t know why you like something, you just do.

It’s one of those tracks where you need quite a lot of downforce and a really good car in the high-speed corners. There are some important low-speed ones as well. It’s about getting the right confidence in being able to push to the limit in those tricky sector-one turns. It’s not an easy track to set up the car, but definitely a really good one to be on.

It’s about finding the right balance with the car. Your car’s performance dictates your performance at the end. It’s more or less the same everywhere. You can try to drive around and be quite consistent more easily than at other tracks.

It’s a pretty crazy atmosphere from Thursday onward. All the grandstands are full. After the race, they’re still there watching the replays of the grand prix on the big screens. They always have really cool fashions on display, with some crazy accessories. They love Formula One and they’re very passionate. It’s a very electric atmosphere. It’s great to see that passion and so many people cheering for teams like us.”

Esteban Gutierrez  - “My first time in Suzuka was in Formula One in 2013 and it’s where I scored points, so I want to do it again. I’m extremely hungry to get a top-10 finish. Everyone on the team is pushing very hard for it. The crew is very motivated. Everyone keeps the same approach even though it can be sometimes a little bit frustrating, but instead of the frustration, it’s even more motivation for us to do a better job and get into the top-10. We have been extracting the most from the car and we expect to keep doing it.

There is a lot of cornering at Suzuka, so you focus on having a good car there and the rest you try to cope with it. You want an optimal setup for the first sector. It’s a very nice track. It’s a track every driver enjoys but, obviously, it depends upon having a good car. It’s a track that I enjoy a lot. The driver can make a difference because Suzuka requires a lot of precision. You have a lot of sequences of corners, so the more precise you can be and the more aggressive you can be, the quicker you’ll be into the corners. You want to be very precise without losing the rhythm.

The fans are very passionate, very intense in a very positive way, and I really enjoy being there. The attention is massive to all the Formula One drivers. They have a lot of respect and are very well educated, and I love that about the culture.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Malaysian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “With the resurfacing, you’ve got to go through with the cars and see if the grip is different. There’s also a lot of rain at Sepang, so we could see some big aquaplaning. We’ll be working as hard as we can to deal with all the conditions. It can rain at one point of the circuit and not at all on the other side. I think that was the case last year. In qualifying, in Q2, I told my guys, ‘It’s raining,’ and they replied, ‘No, it’s not’. For me, it was pouring down and I could barely keep the car on track. I was on the edge. Suddenly the guys then got the rain and were like, ‘Yes, we can see it’. So yes, Malaysia can be very variable with the rain, and in a short amount of time. It’s part of the show and part of the game.

Even though I didn’t get much racing in Singapore, you get your body used to the heat regardless with your overall fitness and training. That helps you feel good when you get there. Your body is better prepared to accept the temperatures you encounter. As I didn’t race in Singapore, I’m absolutely ready, physically, to race in Malaysia. I think it’s pretty much the hardest race of the year (physically). Singapore is a slower track with slower corners, whereas Malaysia has high speed with high loads. Again, it’s a great challenge, a great track, and when you have a good car, it’s an amazing experience.

There are plenty (of overtaking opportunities). There are some big straight lines with good top speed, and then some big braking zones. It’s a track with high tyre degradation. Overtaking is really good fun at Sepang. I remember GP2 Asia in 2008. I had the pole position in Sepang by around a second or something like that. It was a very fast time. I stalled on the grid, came back from last and almost climbed back up to first, but I was pushed out by a backmarker. I finished ninth, while the top eight were then reversed on the grid for the second race. I started the second race from ninth and finished second. It was a weekend where I should’ve won both races but, unfortunately, didn’t. I love the track though.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “You approach Turn 1 with a lot of speed. After a long straight, at the first corner you brake and turn in with a lot of lateral load. It’s a fairly long corner that goes into Turn 2, which has a change of surface angle which makes it a bit tricky on the apex to get the right grip for the exit. Then you come down flat out and into Turn 3. You approach Turn 5, which is basically a 90-degree corner to the right where you can use all the kerbs available. Then you come to Turns 6 and 7, which is my favourite part of the circuit - high-speed corner left and right. Turns 8 and 9 comprise a right-hand corner, which is basically two apexes on one whole corner. Then you arrive into Turn 10, which is a hairpin. Big braking, and there’s also change in the surface which makes it pretty difficult to get the right traction out of that corner. By that time the tyres are pretty hot, so you struggle with the traction out of the hairpin. Then you go into Turn 11, which is not really a corner but preparation for Turn 12, which is a medium-speed corner. Then you have (Turn) 13, which is a left-handed, very high-speed corner where you’re flat out. Then you come to the famous corner from Sepang, which is a very long corner to the right with a lot of braking. It’s a very technical corner because it has so many different lines which you can really use depending on the setup of the car and depending if you are on a qualifying lap or in the race. Then you come down the straight and into the last corner, braking pretty late into a medium-speed corner. It’s important to carry the speed in where you really go deep and then prepare with a right line for the exit and come to the straight line.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Singapore GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It’s pretty cool. Everyone loves it, especially the VIPs, who then go partying after the race. It’s a special one, for sure. It’s a race everyone waits for. It’s a tricky track, and you’re racing at night downtown when it’s very hot and humid, so there are a lot of factors that make it exciting. It’s actually easier at night because the lights never change. The luminosity is always the same. You stick with the same visor, and driving at those speeds in those conditions is absolutely fine.

There are a few corners where you can actually run wide and go over the kerbs. I think last year they removed some. So, yes, most of the time there are walls in close proximity - you pretty much have to hold your breath and hope for the best, especially when you’re pushing in qualifying, as you run so close to the walls - but there are a few occasions on the track when you can use a bit more of the width than was perhaps first designed. Especially between Turns 3 and 4, and on the long straight, it’s very bumpy. You really want to find the right line there. When you make an overtaking move there, you’ve really got to be sure you’ve got the car with you as it’s very tricky. To be honest, every corner is tricky.

It can be very physical. All week we never see the sunlight, so that takes a bit of energy away. Then it’s humid, it’s hot and it’s always a long race. We usually reach the two-hour limit. It’s very, very demanding. I remember back in 2013, I lost four kilos (nine pounds) of water during the race, which is quite a lot. Mentally it’s very difficult, as much as it is physical. It’s clearly one of the races where you need to be at your fittest in the season. We (drivers) love a challenge. That’s why we race in Formula One and that’s why we drive these cars and race at over 300 km/h (186 mph). We love it.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “I like very much the first section - Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4. You arrive very quick from the straight, so it’s a sequence of corners which makes it very interesting. I also like the last part where you have a lot of chicanes where you can use the kerbs. It’s a lot of corners in a very short period of time, so it’s very physical. The overtaking opportunities are on corner 1, corner 8, which is after the long straight, then after the hairpin, as well. There are two or three places which are pretty good for overtaking, even though it’s a street circuit and usually street circuits are a bit more difficult for that. The first time I came there was in GP2 and I went straight into practice without knowing much about it. There used to be a very special corner, a triple chicane, which now has been changed, so that part and that section will be new to me. I’m looking forward to getting to know it.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk

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Italian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It’s the characteristics of the track (that allow you to reach such high speeds), primarily a long straight line with a chicane followed by another long straight line. Everyone goes for low down force levels. That’s where we go fast in a straight line. It’s a great track - a temple of speed.

(Overtaking is) not as straightforward as a drag race. You still lose down force when you follow another car out of the low-speed corners. It’s one of those races where you can have a lot of overtaking, a lot of action. It’s always interesting to see how it plays out with the big slipstreams.”

I’m very much looking forward to racing there again. The atmosphere is crazy in Monza. The Tifosi, the fans - they’re just great. The track is in the middle of a park. It’s like nowhere else. There are so many people coming and watching, cheering for the drivers and, of course, for Ferrari. The atmosphere is electric. I love it.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “(Monza’s) interesting because you have a lot of high-speed sections, mainly straight-line sections with very low down force, and this is directly affecting the braking of the slow-speed corners. When you have a long period of time when you’re braking, obviously the down force is important, but the fact that you get very low down force on this track, you need to cope with the car in different ways and you need to adapt the setup for that.

(The overtaking opportunities are) basically, everywhere. You have Turn 1 and you have Turn 4, as well as before the Parabolica. It’s a track that provides a lot of overtaking. It’s one of the classics. The people, the atmosphere, the Italians, Ferrari fans, and we’re using Ferrari engines, so it’s great to come there and enjoy nice support from the Italians, especially for me being part of Ferrari last year directly as a third driver put me very close to Italy.

I won a few championships there - two championships actually, Formula BMW and GP3. I remember exactly how it was. It was actually with a qualifying lap because it was enough to get one point from getting the pole position and that was enough for me to win the championship, so it was a very special moment. It comes always from Monza - a special place for me to get there and get that feeling. My favourite part of Monza is probably the Ascari corner. It’s a triple chicane, very fast turning in, very late braking. It’s actually one of my favourite corners of the calendar.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Belgian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - "It’s just a great track. There are very high-speed corners and there are a lot of turns, different types, some high speed, some low - just a good variety overall. It gives you a good feeling to drive. I can’t choose just one part and say it’s my favourite. The whole circuit just comes together nicely.

The first lap you go through (Eau Rouge and Raidillon) flat out, you feel sick, like you’re on a rollercoaster because it goes up and down. You’re thinking, will I make that for the race? But, once you’ve done it once, it’s all OK and you just enjoy the G-forces. (Eau Rouge is) certainly a corner where you don’t want to have a mistake. Qualifying in clean air is certainly quite good. On the other hand, if you get a big tow, you can have a massive advantage going into turn five. There’s a bit of an argument for both philosophies there.You always see different approaches at Spa. Either you’re fast in sector one and sector three, which are the high-speed sectors, or you’re fast in sector two, which has more of the corners. Both work pretty well, so it’s a matter of how you want to approach the race.

We had a good car in Belgium last year. I had qualified fourth, but started ninth due to a gearbox penalty. We had a good strategy and good timing with a safety car, too. I managed to overtake a few cars and get on the podium. Honestly, it was one of those weekends where everything just goes to plan.It was great for all the guys, and for myself. We had a perfect weekend on the track. For everyone involved, it was a very good feeling. I guess it was kind of the same feeling as scoring the first points for Haas earlier this season. I (also) won the GP2 title there in 2011. That was a great year.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “I think (the unpredictability of the weather at Spa means) you need to make quick decisions throughout the weekend, especially during the race as it’s a way to gain an advantage. Making a wrong decision can be very detrimental, but that’s what’s special about Spa. It’s a very long track and it can sometimes only rain on one part of the track, on one or two corners, and if you’re on slicks you just need to deal with it. Ultimately, you only want to come in for full wets if it’s raining throughout. You really have to be ready and open minded during the weekend.

It’s a track that has a lot of corners, as well as being a very long track where you can gain a lot of time if you do everything properly and if you’re consistent throughout the lap. This also depends on how much down force you have on the car as the circuit has a lot of high-speed and fluid corners, which are important factors.

It’s a track where you have to compromise a lot because you don’t want to lose too much speed on the straight and you don’t want to lose too much down force in the corners. It’s important to have an efficient car to find the best compromise between aero and the mechanical set up.

(Eau Rouge and Raidillon) are usually flat out. It’s an amazing feeling approaching Eau Rouge. It goes up and you can feel the compression at the beginning of the corner and as the car is moving though the corner. As you go uphill, sometimes the car is jumping on the curb at high speed. It’s amazing. It’s difficult to describe it because you have to experience it.

Even in the race sometimes you have to be flat out if you are running behind someone you want to overtake. It’s a corner you don’t require much down force to make it flat out. Usually, we reduce the down force at Spa because of the long straights and you want to have the least drag possible in those areas. It’s a compromise of how much down force you set. Even with a low configuration of down force, Eau Rouge becomes quite challenging, but usually very nice if you can take it flat out. I would say Eau Rouge (is my favourite part of Spa). It’s a great corner. It’s iconic and it’s great to drive.

I’ve had a few incredible races in the wet at Spa. One of the most fun races I’ve had was starting from the back after being disqualified. I manage to overtake my way up the grid but, unfortunately, at the end I was penalized again by overtaking someone on the very last lap when the safety car was out. It’s a great memory of Spa and it’s a track I always enjoy. Hopefully this year will be just as enjoyable and we’ll do our best to make it a successful weekend.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk

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German GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “I’d like us to go into the break with a strong final race. It’s always good to get a morale boost before the shutdown. Everyone can reflect on what we’ve done and what we can do better. It’s important for everyone to get a rest. It’s a long season and we’re only just over halfway through at the break. The big flyaway races come after that. We’ve had an amazing first half of the season and I’m sure we can do more in the second half. For that, we really need to keep working, keep our focus and take some rest whenever we can.

Hockenheim is definitely a lot about straight-line speed, braking and traction out of the corners. When you get good traction through the low-speed corners, you have a much better straight-line speed. You’ve got the stadium part, which is very narrow as well. It’s a good balance between having top speeds and fuel efficiency, and traction and braking being suitable.

It’s always great to visit somewhere with good memories. I won at the circuit in Formula Three, and in Formula Renault 1.6. I won there in the GP2 Series until a post-race penalty dropped me to second. Every year is different though. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. The important thing is to make it count now.

The entry into the stadium section is definitely my favourite part of the Hockenheimring. It’s amazing. You’re coming in from really fast corners, then you just turn into a very narrow section of the track. It’s fun.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “It’s one of my favourite tracks. It’s one of the first I drove in Europe when I came to race Formula BMW in 2008. It’s a pretty special place for me. There are some corners that I really love about it - definitely the entry to the stadium. It’s a very high-speed corner, and you enter with a lot of speed and no margin of mistake. You have the gravel straight away and then you have a very narrow track, and it arrives into the banked corner, which is really interesting.

I want the team to be going into the summer break in good shape with a positive race at Hockenheim. I feel it will be an important occasion for every team member to also recharge their batteries because it has been quite a nonstop season for us right from the beginning. It will be an important break. Everyone can come back strong and we can continue our way through the season.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Hungarian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM 

Romain Grosjean - “I’ve always had a good feeling in Hungary. I’ve always liked the track. I like sector two, the flowing section of the track, which is quite nice. They’ve resurfaced it this year, so we’ll see how it goes. It used to be very bumpy. It’s a low-speed circuit. How the car handles is important. I’ve been lucky to have had cars that have performed well there over the years.

It can get very hot in Budapest. It’s not an easy race, but on the other hand, there’s not many high-speed corners on the track, so it’s more about keeping your focus and concentration all through the race. Regardless, we’re always keeping fit to prepare ourselves. It’s very difficult to overtake at the Hungaroring. To be fair, I made one of the best overtakes of my life there in 2013, outside of turn four, on Felipe Massa. I got a drive-through penalty for that one for having four wheels off the track. That didn’t matter to me as it was one of my most beautiful overtaking moves ever.

It’s going to be our number one priority to get the tyre to work for us and analyse the degradation, which can be high on some compounds. If we get the grip, we’ll get the lap time. Then we can do more pit stops and have more fun.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “Budapest is a track where the temperatures are usually very hot and the main characteristic of the tyre is that they get overheated very easily. But I know the car and I am confident in driving the car, so with any kind of conditions or track characteristics you just get used to it very quickly.

The Hungaroring for me is a special track. It’s the first track I tested in Europe back at the end of 2007 when I tested Formula BMW, so it brings me great memories every time I come back there. I have achieved great results, so mainly from that point of view, I’m happy to be back. It is a slow track, but it has also quick corners and a very interesting layout. It’s quite physically demanding because of the fact you have not many chances to have a pause from the driving. You have to be focused all the time because all the corners make it very demanding - mentally and physically. But I like that challenge. It’s a nice track and I really look forward to the experience.

I would say turn one is the best (overtaking) opportunity. You come down from the long straight and you have the DRS on, so yeah, it’s approaching turn one. Also the exit of turn one approaching turn two. Those are the two main overtaking opportunities. (Being tough on tyres is) a characteristic of the Hungaroring. The tyres degrade very quickly, so it’s even more important in qualifying to be spot on the first lap and get the maximum out of the new tyres. You don’t have a second chance on this track to put a good lap time on the tyres.

I would say the last corner (is my favourite part of the Hungaroring), which I enjoy a lot, and sector two where you have the chicane and a good series of corners, which makes it very interesting. You cannot miss one apex because if you miss one apex, all of the following corners are affected and quite long. There is also a very nice, fast corner - Turn 11. I love it.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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British GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “It’s a really cool track, especially the fast part through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel corners. When you have the grip in the car there, you really get the sensation of the g-forces. Everything’s pushing down. You really want to get the first part of the flowing corners right. If you don’t, you just lose a lot of time. When the car is very stable and has good balance, you can go flat out and really push it to the limit. That’s where F1 is at its best. I think probably Baku we were flat out for longer periods of time, but Silverstone is a power track as well. You need good power to get a good lap time there. There are a few straight lines and a few overtaking opportunities but, mainly, Silverstone is about the grip of the car through the high-speed corners.

There are a few spots (to overtake). On the straights and through the high-speed corners, you have an opportunity if your car is much better balanced than the car in front of you. After turn three or turn four, there’s the long section after the slow-speed corners, and that’s a good opportunity as well. But the thing about Silverstone is really the difference between a well-balanced car and an unbalanced car, that’s where the opportunity lies.

Silverstone is in the UK, and the UK weather is known to be sometimes rainy, sometimes dry. That plays a part. It can change a lot between qualifying and the race, and then even in the race itself. You can also have a good car in qualifying, but if it’s not quite perfectly balanced for the race, you’ll pay the price. That’s where success lies, and probably why most of the winners didn’t start from pole position. I think Silverstone is a track that the team knows very well and it’s in line with Barcelona. We can use the knowledge from Barcelona and use it at Silverstone for the normal baseline setup and, hopefully, get it right from the beginning. You want as much downforce as you can get.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “You approach Turn 1 after the main straight, which is usually flat out and on the limit. You go into Turn 2, which is important to prepare the line for Turn 3. It’s a high-braking corner, pretty slow, but then goes into another hairpin - a very slow-speed corner. After exiting Turn 4, you have Turn 5, which is also flat out, and it’s important to have a good balance and good traction. Approaching Turn 6 is a medium-speed corner and you enter with a lot of speed. Entry is more important than exit. Then you have Turn 7, which is a pretty long corner and pretty challenging for the tyres because you arrive with the tyres warmed up on the surface and you’re trying to get good traction out of there. Then you come into the back straight before Turn 9, which is one of the nicest corners on the circuit. It’s a very high-speed corner and then it starts my favourite section, approaching into the series of corners which is 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. It’s very important to have a good rhythm. You enter with a lot of speed and you can’t lose the line. You want a good exit out of the last corner. Then it’s down another straight. You approach Turn 15, which is a very nice corner, very fast, braking very late and with a lot of lateral while turning into the corner. Then you approach the last part of the track, which is the chicane, and a very long exit after the chicane, which obviously makes traction very challenging.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk

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Austrian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - "It's a funny place to race being in the middle of the mountains. The circuit is very short. The lap time is almost like Monaco. There are some overtaking opportunities. The track, in general, has two very different parts. I quite like the middle sector. There are medium- to high-speed corners. You've got turn one and turn two, which are very similar. Both are 90-degree turns with big braking and long, straight lines. You've then got the second part which is more flowing.

You start with big braking into turn one, a 90-degree corner. It's very important to go early on the power. There's then a long straight line going up to turn two where you brake very late into the corner, and there's a change of camber. You go flat again after that to turn three. Again, tricky braking there as you're going downhill. Then you've got a double-left corner, medium- to high-speed turns. The last couple of turns are the same as you go up the hill and then down again. It can be pretty tricky, but if you get the grip under the car and a good balance, it can be a lot of fun to drive.

It was a shame about the race in Baku that we had to have the extra pit stop. I think we could have scored points. We were looking pretty good up until that point. Some of the races we're now going to should be better for us. We still need to work on getting the best out of the tires when it's cold. We have some graining issues as well, but we're still a brand new team and we haven't had many options to try different things. We're going in a good direction even though we haven't scored points in a while."

Esteban Gutierrez - "It's quite unique because it's a little bit old school and has a lot of fast corners, which I enjoy a lot. It's a pretty short circuit – not many corners – so the times are pretty tight, and very competitive in qualifying. It's an extra challenge to make everything as perfect as possible, or as close to perfect as possible.

I love the two fast corners to the left on the infield, which makes it very interesting, and also the last part when you enter into a very high-speed corner after the back-straight, followed by a banked corner. It's pretty nice to go through there. The wind makes some effects because you have the trees, which are pretty high, so the wind is flowing in some parts of the circuit in a different way than in others, so it makes it a bit more challenging in that way."

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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European GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - "We had a (Baku) session on the simulator, and that’s about everything you can do. The simulators are getting better year after year, but it’s still not a real race car. There’s a lot you can do with a simulator, which is great, but nothing is as good as being in the car out on track. On the simulator, you can try a few different set-up ideas for direction. You can also try different philosophies and updates you’d like to try on the car later in the year and before you prepare them for actual racing.

The more experience you have as a team, the better prepared you are for new tracks and different layouts. On the other hand, no one knows what to expect from Baku, so that’s going to be interesting for us.

It’s certainly a circuit that’s very different from everything we’ve been used to. We’ll have to see how it goes in real life. There are very long, straight lines and a lot of 90 degree corners with low curves. There’s a very high section up to the castle and down again to the last corner, which will be quite interesting.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “The simulator has been very important (in preparing). It’s been quite an experience. Baku is a very challenging track and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to getting there in person. I feel that it will be a bit more [of a level playing field], but that doesn’t clear the fact that as a team we have a bit less experience overall. That makes it complicated to predict things, because when you have more information and more experience, you can make better predictions. It will be interesting to get to know Baku and its characteristics and see where we stand. No matter what, we’ll approach it in a positive way and try to extract the maximum amount from our car at this new circuit.

I cannot compare it to anything. From what I saw on the simulator, it’s a completely different racetrack. It’s really going to be quite a challenge, and I think that’s going to make things interesting for everybody. I liked it in the simulator, so I hope it’s going to be like that in reality. I didn’t know anything of Azerbaijan before the race was announced, but then I did a little bit of research to try and learn about the country and Baku. I’m looking forward to seeing it and enjoying the area.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Canadian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “(The Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is) a city circuit, but very different from Monaco. There are a few things we can bring forward, but not much. Hopefully, we don’t have to manage the brakes too much, which is normally a good thing for a driver. For the set-up, you want a stable car for the braking. You also want the confidence to be able to brake late and to not have any instability or locking up on the entry phase into a corner.

I like the whole circuit. I’ve always loved it and really enjoy racing there. It’s always a great feeling. (My second-place finish in Montreal in 2012) was a great race. I started P7. I had a one-stop strategy while everyone else was on a two-stop strategy. Initially, I thought I would finish fifth or sixth as I was stuck behind the Mercedes of (Nico) Rosberg. I couldn’t overtake. Then, everyone pitted. The ones who didn’t were really struggling with grip, so I could overtake them. I didn’t quite have the pace to chase Lewis (Hamilton) and take the win.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “Montreal is a pretty low-downforce track. It’s very smooth and there are many, many long straights. It’s usually a challenge to make the tyres work, and I think that’s going to be the key point of the whole weekend. (In terms of braking) it’s very similar to Monza, with a lot of long straights and low down force. It’s important to have a good car mechanically. Hopefully, our car is well adapted to the circuit. I like all the chicanes because you can use a lot of curbs, which it makes it very exciting. I’m really looking forward to getting there and driving the track. It’s always great to be back in Montreal.

You come into the first corner with a lot of speed. Then you get into Turn 2, which goes around and has a very difficult exit with some bumps. You arrive into the first chicane, where you can use a lot of kerbs. Then you have a high-speed corner that is flat out, and you arrive into the next corner under braking, using a little bit of the track’s banking and the kerb before exiting onto the following straight. It’s a very long exit. After that, there’s a medium-length straight that brings you to a hard-braking zone. It’s a very challenging entry because you tend to put a lot of speed in, which makes the exit difficult. There’s a wall there too, so it can get pretty exciting. Then you come down to the hairpin, where it’s very big braking, very tricky on the entry. It’s a difficult corner, especially when you have low grip. It’s important to properly prepare the exit so you can take advantage of the longest straight on the track. That straight brings you to the last chicane, which has the Wall of Champions. It’s a very quick chicane and very interesting, because if you catch as much as you can on the kerbs, absorbing a lot with the steering wheel and trying to make the corner as straight as possible, you gain a lot of lap time.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Monaco GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “Monaco is special to me because it’s kind of my home race. We’re beside France and there’s always a lot of people, a lot of fans. It is, of course, special because of all the glamour because it is Monaco. Everyone knows Monaco and everyone wants to be in Monaco. It’s a very challenging track and a very long weekend with lots of demands, but at the end of the day it’s a very nice show.

It’s pretty difficult to race there. Every city racetrack is complicated. In Monaco, you can’t make any mistakes or you’re straight into the wall. It’s hard to find the right limit of the car. You always have to drive underneath (the limit), unless you’re in qualifying on a very fast lap. It’s very tight there, and it goes very fast between the walls. It’s a great challenge.

It’s almost impossible to pass in Monaco, unless you take big risks, and in that case you may spend some hours with the stewards afterward. Qualifying is the key. You really want to be on the front row. Once the race starts, you want a good start and try to hang in there. It’s one of those races where the chances to overtake are very low. Something really needs to happen for you to be able to come back if you’re racing at the back.

Yes, it’s a driver’s track, where you need to have confidence in your car. But, on the other hand, if your car doesn’t give you any grip, you won’t have any confidence, and you cannot make any difference. It’s just finding that very fine balance in between the car, the driver pushing it, and the fact that yes, once you’re very confident, you can actually make a bit of a difference.

It’s probably one of the most difficult races to win. Everything needs to be perfect, from the first free practice to the end of the race. You need a good pace in practice and, hopefully, get a top-three place in qualifying. After that you need a good start, a good strategy and a good run to the end. It’s very difficult to get that right.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “It’s simply the most iconic race on the calendar. There’s a lot of history. It’s very special to race in Monaco, in general. It’s a very cool place. It is one of the most demanding circuits, but it’s very special. It’s very important to keep your focus all weekend, which becomes a challenge, as you have many different distractions around. It’s a very intense event because it’s small, everything’s compressed. It’s the most difficult track to overtake. Turn one is an opportunity, and also going out of the tunnel when you brake for the low-speed chicane. Those two places are the most viable for overtaking.

The car never stops being a factor, but it is true that the driver can have a lot of influence because it’s a track that is very demanding. You can make a lot of difference with different driving styles, and by having the confidence in your car in order to push and get the maximum out of what you have. I love turn one, and also turns three and four up at the casino. That part is really special. I like the tunnel and the swimming pool complex, too.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Spanish GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - It’s certainly going to be useful to have data from the winter testing, even though the conditions, the temperature and everything are going to be very different. The tyres are different as well – we don’t have the supersofts we used in the winter. But I think it’s still going to be good. I’m not sure it’s going to help us to set up the car initially, but it will help us to double-check everything we have done and to see if we’ve been going in the right direction since the winter testing.

The advantage of having data from the winter testing, and going back a few races into the season, is that you can check if you’ve been doing a good job in going in the right direction, in terms of the setup of the car and so on. I’m very much looking forward to getting back to Barcelona and trying the updates we’ve got and the setups we’ve been using. Hopefully, we’ll get more updates and then check that we’re doing the right thing with the car.

It’s a very demanding track because you’ve got some high-speed corners, like the first sector, then you’ve got some very low-speed sections and corners, like the last sector of the track. It’s normally a good judge for the car, showing that you’re capable of having some good downforce at high speed and good mechanical grip in the low-speed turns. It’s going to be interesting for us. We know what we could have improved during the winter testing to get faster in Barcelona. Hopefully, it’s coming for the race. It would be interesting for us to check that we’ve been doing everything right and the updates we’re bringing work as expected.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “Barcelona is a track we use a lot for testing. It’s probably the track that I have done the most laps in my career. You come into the first section into turn one, focused on the entry speed and also the line, in preparation for turn two and turn three, which is crucial in order to have a good exit out of the famous and fast turn three of Barcelona. Approaching into turn four, you have a very sharp brake to turn in very quickly, carrying the speed into the corner. The exit is very long with a lot of load on the rear tyres. You arrive into turn five, it’s a bit downhill, quite a slow corner, on braking you don’t really see the entry well and, at the same time, it is very important not to miss the apex. Turn seven is very sharp. The corner has some banking, which makes it faster than what you can see from outside approaching. Then into turn nine, it’s uphill. You turn in with very small brake, and a short lift on the throttle. The exit is a bit blind, and the car usually is moving around, trying to go on power as quickly as possible and a very, very fast corner. From turn 10 onward, you have the first sector which is usually very challenging because of the tyre temperatures. You have the tyres heated up from the previous two sectors and it makes it the most important and challenging part of the track because it’s where you can gain or lose a lot of time as it is the most technical part of the track.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk

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Russian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - "China was a difficult weekend for us and certainly not the outcome we had wanted. It still feels like it was a negative weekend, but in the near future, I'm sure we'll see positives from it because it's in the tough situations you learn the most. Hopefully, we can learn what happened. If anything was wrong with the car, what can we do better? What can we do differently? How do we react in a better way if we find ourselves in a similar situation? I think it's one of those things you have to face as a new team, but I'm sure we're going to react very well, as we have done so far every time.

Sochi is a good track to drive. I think the corners flow into each other quite nicely, (and) I like turn three. It’s a very high-speed corner, a fun place. There’s a very long straight line to start, followed by big braking into a right-hand side corner, taken in third or fourth gear. Then you have the famous turn three, which is flat out in qualifying. Then you go into turn four – you can carry quite good speed into it. The next few corners are very similar. They flow nicely and you enjoy some good speed in the car. Then you go on the backstraight, again with very tricky braking. Then the last section of the track is much slower, in particular the last two corners. The pit entry is also a bit tricky. The finish line is straight at the last corner, so depending if you’re on a qualifying lap or a racing lap, each one is different."

Esteban Gutierrez - "It was a very big relief to finally do a lot of consecutive laps (in China). I was enjoying the car and the race so much that I could have continued for another 50 laps, probably. It was quite a tricky situation by not being able to practice on Friday and having the wet session on Saturday morning. Basically, we didn’t have many laps under our belts and it was quite a challenge to arrive into qualifying directly without any preparation, but still having to do proper laps. I think we managed it pretty well as a team. Sochi is a track that is pretty stop-and-go. It requires a very different setup to what we had in China. I love the first sector. It’s a nice, big braking into turn one, then you have the long turn three which is flat out. Then you have a series of medium-speed corners which are also quite fun."

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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Chinese GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM

Romain Grosjean - “I think there are a few more parts coming in China and then a few more after that. I’m very much looking forward to trying the first updates to see if they’re working as they should. We’re not a hundred percent with the car yet, so there are still a few things we can do without adding the updates. Again, in China, we have some aggressive tire options, so hopefully they will work as well as they did in Bahrain.

Shanghai is a fun track. The first corner is probably the best known one. It’s a very long, right-hand turn corner. This circuit is very hard on the front tires. There’s also the very long back straight with big braking at the end. It’ll be a good test for us to see, on a very different track layout, if we’re as good as we were in Bahrain.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “We still need to manage our expectations because our car at the moment has reacted pretty well in Melbourne and in Bahrain, but we need to learn how it will react now in China. I think China will give us a good indication of how the season will be, and also the fact that all the other teams are pushing really hard to develop their car during the season. And as the season advances, it will get more and more competitive, so we need to be ready for that. We can still extract more speed and performance from our car, and China gives us an opportunity to do just that.

Shanghai is a very front-limited track, which puts a lot of front load into the tires. Turn 1 is very fast and a very long corner - one which is very different to other corners of the season. It’s quite iconic to Shanghai. You arrive full speed, and when you enter into the corner, you have to wait very long into Turn 2. You have Turn 3, which has a very long exit, and it’s quite tricky on traction as you put a lot of lateral on the exit. You go through Turns 4 and 5, which is a very high-speed section, and then into Turn 6 and 7, one of my favourite parts of the track. You really come into Turn 6 with full speed and then change direction into Turn 7. You have to prepare for Turns 8 and 9 because this sequence is very important not to lose the rhythm. Then getting into Turn 10, it’s a small 90-degree corner which exits to a very, very long straight into Turn 11, which is the beginning of a very long corner. You go from very low speed to increasing the speed through the corner, and it’s a part of the circuit where it’s easy to hurt the front tyres. It’s an important part of the circuit when it comes to the car’s race setup. Then one of the longest straights of the season is the back straight, were you’re at maximum speed. You arrive into a very high-braking corner - the hairpin Turn 14. Then the last corner is 90 degrees - a medium-speed corner - which is quite tricky on the exit because you have the curb which you can use quite a lot but, obviously, it has its limits. You’re always trying to maximize the track. It’s quite challenging.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk

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