02/07/2020
NEWS STORY
Unlike its rivals, the Haas that rolls out on to the track for opening practice tomorrow will be in exactly the same spec as it (all too briefly) appeared in Melbourne, the American team opting to focus on spares rather than upgrades.
However, despite looking less than impressive in pre-season testing, Kevin Magnussen insists that he is "not concerned".
"I'm not really that concerned," the Dane told reporters. "Of course we would all prefer to have upgrades rolling in but we don't know where we are yet.
"I think we're pretty positive, the whole team, after testing," he added. "We had a good feeling with the car so there's no reason to be concerned. We're all positive and let's just see where we stack up on the grid. Then, regarding all the upgrades, it is what it is. We've just got to make the best of the car that we have right now and look after it and pull everything out of it."
Meanwhile, asked if he is confident that his team has solved the tyre management issues that plagued it last season, the car seemingly working with its tyres at the optimum in the very smallest of windows, teammate Romain Grosjean said: "Very confident... I think everyone has had a very good look at everything and I believe now we've got a better way of understanding issues and getting in line with the drivers' comments. Because at the end of the day, we're the ones driving the car and very early on, we felt like something was a bit off, but it took more time… to find out."
Having gone first one way and then the other in terms of set-up, team boss, Guenther Steiner eventually admitted that the team should have listened to its drivers more.
"Now we can operate quicker, faster," said Grosjean, "we know where to look, and as I say, I'm very confident that we have a much better understanding of the situation if it happens again, and then we can react quicker."
Unlike his teammate, however, the Frenchman is concerned at the lack of updates.
"I'm maybe a little bit more concerned than Kevin," he said, "and we know that F1 is about bringing development and bringing new parts... last year I finished the last race with the kit I started the year on.
"Sometimes an update doesn't really work the way you want," he added. "Yes, it is great to have new parts, it's great to bring performance, but it doesn't always work and can make you focus in the wrong place.
"I'm just happy to come racing, I think the team survived the crisis. Let's go racing, let's get the car how quick we can make it, and see if we need to bring parts."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Spielberg, here.