Romain Grosjean expects to establish a "pretty good idea" of where Haas will be fighting at the start of the new Formula 1 season after the upcoming pre-season tests.
On Friday, the Frenchman took the new VF-18 for its first laps around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a shakedown/ filming day ahead of the first four days of action with all 10 teams present, which begin on Monday.
The American team head into the new year as an unknown quantity with hopes they can now push forward and become a strong midfield challenger in their third season but also some predictions they may get left behind.
"I want to be happy with the car and I want to be able to know where we can improve," Grosjean said, outlining his goals for pre-season.
"Even though testing is always a little unclear, you never know what people are doing with fuel loads and tyres and so on, we generally have a pretty good idea of where we are."
Considering what would be a good performance target for Haas, he added: "Ideally, within a second of the fastest car on the track."
Also Read:
- Haas owner sets ambitious performance goal for 2018
- Grosjean sees in-season development as main weakness Haas must improve
- Magnussen believes Haas at a "similar level" to former team Renault
Team principal Guenther Steiner doesn't seem so concerned about the lap times that will be set in the coming weeks in Spain, instead focusing on racking up the miles, but does expect the team to be heading into 2018 with a stronger foundation.
"We’ve now got more people working back at the factory that can analyze data. Before, this was an area where we were perhaps a little weak," he explained.
"We’re growing. We’re always getting better and to get better you need time. With having more people, we can do more to get prepared for the first race."
