Haas now has ‘clear idea’ about 2019 F1 tyres - Grosjean

Romain Grosjean says Haas now has “a clear idea” of what to do in order to get the most out of Pirelli’s latest Formula 1 tyre compounds.

Tyre-related performance issues have plagued much of the American squad’s early part of the 2019 season, with the problem appearing at its worst during race conditions.

After enjoying a strong double points finish at the high-speed Circuit de-Barcelona Catalunya, Haas feared its tyre troubles could return in Monaco, though it avoided a repeat and recorded more points courtesy of Kevin Magnussen.

The team’s performance in Monte Carlo has left Grosjean encouraged heading into this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

“Now we’ve got a clear idea of what we need to do in terms of tyres,” Grosjean said.

“We’ve been working really hard, so we know exactly where the window is. Now the question is how to bring the tyres into that window.

“I think we’re getting better and better at that. Things should get a bit smoother, and I still believe we’ve got the fourth-fastest car on the track.”

As it did in Monaco, Pirelli is bringing the same range of softest available compounds to Montreal.

“We did really well in Monaco, and I didn’t know what to expect in getting the tyres to work,” the Frenchman added.

“We got them to work very nicely, and performing really well in qualifying with Kevin [Magnussen], and managing 51 laps on the softs in the race on my side – which was pretty amazing.

“We had a really good pace. So, I believe it’s going to be OK. We need to wait and see, but I’ve got hope that we’re going to get them to work.”

Despite Grosjean’s confidence, team principal Guenther Steiner remains cautious about jumping to conclusions until after Friday practice, though he says Haas is “more optimistic” than it was four weeks ago.

“We’re a little bit more hopeful than maybe where we were about four weeks ago,” he explained.

“The soft family [of tyres] in Monaco worked pretty well on our cars, so hopefully we can get them to work - get them up to temperature - in Canada, as well.

“I think we have a handle on the car, but we’re not 100 percent sure about the tyres, because it’s so track-specific if the tire gets up to temperature or not.

“The only proof is when you get there and run on a Friday to see what you can get out of it. We are a little bit more optimistic than we were about four weeks ago.”