Romain Grosjean has claimed Haas’ brake problems, which hampered him since 2016, have been resolved this season despite several mistakes.
The American team had been consistently trialling different set-ups and materials, switching between Brembo and Carbone Industrie, to find a lasting solution to the issues which left the Frenchman sometimes fearful of his safety, with Baku 2017 one such example.
However, as Haas enjoy a stronger start to this year, even if results haven’t reflected it, the former Renault and Lotus driver claims the brakes have been important to that.
“I’m loving the brakes we’re running. I haven’t had an issue with them, and the feeling has been perfect. That box is ticked,” Grosjean said ahead of the Canadian GP this weekend.
“Braking is key, especially at races like Baku or Monaco. I’ve been very happy, and it allows me to get the best of the car.”
That new confidence will be very welcome heading to what is historically the hardest circuit of the year on brakes in Montreal with a number of long straights into slow-speed turns.
“Canada is very hard on the brakes, but our cooling should be better,” Romain claimed. “Sometimes you can do some lift-and-coast, especially when the car is full of fuel at the beginning of the race.
“You want to try to save the brakes a bit and not overheat them, so they’re good by the end of the race when you’re trying to push them, or by pit stop time.”
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Another boost should come from a substantial aero upgrade which had been scheduled for Barcelona but was delayed until this weekend.
“We’ve got quite significant changes – front wing, floor, and all the bargeboard area – we’ve made those updates,” confirmed team boss Guenther Steiner.
“Obviously, their aim is to go faster, to gain us speed. A lot of people brought their upgrades to Spain, we decided to bring them to Canada to have a little bit more time because we’re still a small team and cannot react as quickly as the big ones.”
Ferrari is also expected to bring updates to their engine which Haas will hope can thrust them back to the head of the midfield.
