Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has revealed what measures have been put in place to avoid a repeat of the pit-stop problems in Australia.
After their incredible pace saw both drivers in the top five at one point, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean would be forced to retire with loose wheels after their respective stops.
The American squad as given a $10,000 fine for the unsafe releases and Steiner admits they were a result of a lack of preparation.
“The team were very good at the end of last season and that maybe gave us a little bit of overconfidence,” he was quoted by RaceFans.net.
“We didn’t practice in Australia, we made mistakes in our decisions which then ended up to be a mistake on the car.”
With hopes they can continue to lead the midfield this weekend in Bahrain and make up for the some of the points lost, the team boss explained what would be different when the drivers enter on Sunday.
“We put an additional person in so that if it isn’t caught we can stop the car, push it back and put it right,” Steiner said.
“[We have] swapped a few positions [of the mechanics], the main reason is, not because they did the mistake, but getting their confidence back,” he added.
Also Read:
Despite every moment counting when the car is stationary in the box, Haas is also prepared to take a little longer to ensure everything goes smoothly.
“We need to make sure that we get the wheels on even if it takes half a second longer,” the Italian stated.
“What we need to do is solid stops, we don’t need 2.4 second stops, we need solid three-second stops. Then if we do them in 2.7 it’s fine but we’re not going for the 2.3 or 2.4 stops.”
