Steiner: Internship in Austria will be partly a test session

Haas F1 Director Günther Steiner talks about how the team is trying to solve the problems plaguing it on Sunday and preparing for the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix.

Q: In the days of the Canadian weekend there were good and difficult moments in the team’s work – both in qualifying and in the race. Have you already had time to analyze everything in more detail – what about the characteristics of the VF-23 car that allow you to show such a high pace in one fast lap in qualifying, but then in racing conditions lead to fast tire wear on sunday ?
Gunter Steiner: We’re just figuring out why we have a great qualifying, then our business during the race isn’t going so well. We are trying to understand this, but in the preparation process for the next Grand Prix we should probably try to find a better compromise in the settings that are suitable for both qualifying and racing. That. would be somewhere in between.

To do this, we make every effort and try to find out what can be done to show better results in the next phases.

Question: What is the forecast for the near future and for a more distant future: when will you be able to deal with the shortcomings of the VF-23 and to what extent will the results of this work be taken into account when creating of the future VF-24 machine?
Gunter Steiner: The team is working hard to find out what this discrepancy is due to, because we are very fast in qualifying and we are not doing well in the races. We already have some considerations and of course the conclusions we draw will be taken into account in the development of the VF-24. Of course, next year’s car should be free of such shortcomings.

Question: It is clear that in order to effectively modernize the VF-23, the information shared by Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg must be taken into account. Can you tell us what the riders share with the engineers? And how do you evaluate the work of both during the season?
Gunter Steiner: I have to admit I’m very happy with Kevin and Niko – how closely they work with the team, trying to understand the problem and find a solution. Both have a very positive attitude – I don’t mean our results in the race, but the confidence that we can overcome the problem that now prevents us.

Q: Leading up to the Austrian Grand Prix, Haas often behaved quite well on the Red Bull Ring circuit – last year the team drivers earned points in both the sprint and race on Sunday. How do you prepare for the upcoming stage and will it be possible to reveal the merits of the VF-23 car at the short lap in Spielberg?
Gunter Steiner: We see the upcoming race partly as a test session. We have a lot to test and try to resolve the race pace issues, and we have a few ideas on how to do this.

Since there are two races this weekend, we have more time to try different approaches. Of course we are always aiming to get as high a result as possible, although I don’t rule out that we will have to compromise to understand what happens to the car at the race distance.