Ferrari power unit 'not fantastic' - Steiner

Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has said he will need to sit down with power unit supplier Ferrari to discover why the 2020 unit is not up to standard.

For the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, only one of six Ferrari powered cars qualified inside the top ten. In 2019, five cars in the top ten were powered by the Scuderia.

“You can see a little bit of a line through all the Ferrari-powered cars," said Steiner.

"We haven’t done any big analysis, and we haven’t spoken with them about it, so I think, with that question, you speak with the Ferrari guys. They maybe know more about it than me!

“It’s obvious I cannot say it all is fantastic because look where Ferrari is, look where Alfa [Romeo] is, and look where we are. We have to sit down and see what the cause is.”

Both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, who will start 15th and 16th at the Red Bull Ring, remained optimistic the problems may be circuit-specific issues.

A year ago, though, Magnussen qualified fifth at a track that is the shortest on the calendar in terms of lap time.

A year on, and Steiner has warned he expects the season to be a long, tough one.

"It looks like we will be in for a difficult season here," assessed Steiner.

"In some places, you can do a little bit better, but in general, what you see here and what you saw in Barcelona [in pre-season testing], maybe some races are a little bit better, but to be qualifying like where we were last year, I don’t think that will happen for us [this year] unfortunately.”

Before you go...

Hamilton in danger of grid penalty in Austria

Verstappen hopes for ace up sleeve against "different level" Mercedes

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Italian Grand Prix result could be changed as F1 team confirms official FIA appeal

• 2 hours ago

Fernando Alonso announces news on F1 2027 future decision: 'It's nice this way'

• 3 hours ago

Lance Stroll 'as quick as Alonso' as insider delivers 'unbeatable' verdict

• 3 hours ago

Max Verstappen crashes in first laps of Madring circuit: 'I have no idea where it's going'

• Yesterday 19:50

Ferrari F1 boss rejects Lewis Hamilton request after showdown talks

• Yesterday 18:46

New Madring F1 track under fire for 'illegal' food ban as official complaint filed

• Yesterday 17:27