Grosjean: ‘Haas should no longer be considered a small team’

Romain Grosjean says Haas should no longer be considered a small team after finishing fifth in last year’s constructors’ championship but says his team should be aiming to do better in 2019, as he and team-mate Kevin Magnussen kick-off their pre-season testing in Barcelona.

After finishing a respectable eighth in each of its first two seasons in F1, Haas improved dramatically last year and doubled its points tally with Grosjean and Magnussen scoring points in 13 out of 21 races.

The Frenchman says its too early to tell if the team has made another leap forward this year, but nevertheless, it should be targeting an improvement on last season and the Frenchman knows where Haas can improve.

“It’s very early to say exactly what’s going on in the pecking order. Some teams are looking for sponsors, and some others are looking for performance, and some others are looking for more reliability on long runs. It’s difficult to draw conclusions after the first day,” said Grosjean.

“I think the idea of the team has been always to do better [each year], and as we’ve done so far, it doesn’t mean that the finishing order has to be better, it means that the season has to be better.

“We start by not losing wheels in Australia, try not to spin under the safety car, try not to break the engine in the pitlane and things like this that were not ideal last year, we can do better.

“Does that mean we’re going to be in the same place, a place up or a place down, I don’t know? The whole idea is to improve year after year and that’s what we’ve done really well since 2016 and I’m hoping we’re going to do again.

Haas is rumoured to operate with the smallest budget on the entire F1 grid but has already secured additional funding this year in the shape of new title sponsor Rich Energy.

Grosjean believes that this, combined with the achievements of last year, means Haas should no longer be considered ‘a small team’ in F1.

“The team is growing a lot. The first few years it was more in the background but now I can really see at the racetrack and seeing more people and more faces, more resources, we’re getting there,” he continued.

“Generally, I think in the first year you could employ another 200 people but it wouldn’t have made a big difference because we weren't ready to do that. Now with the experience and with what the team has been going through, after the season we had, we really know where to fill some positions and that’s what’s happening. I can feel a big difference.

“When you finish fifth in the constructors’ championship you cannot be [considered] a small team.”

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