Not acceptable for Haas to keep losing points - Steiner 

Haas team principal Günther Steiner says it is “not acceptable” for his team to keep “losing points” while boasting such a strong Formula 1 car.

Kevin Magnussen both started Sunday’s British Grand Prix from inside the top 10, but a Turn 1 collision between the pair dropped them down the order. Magnussen made the most of two Safety Car periods to recover to ninth on a two-stop strategy, but Grosjean retired in a tangle with Carlos Sainz’s Renault.  

Steiner feels the American squad’s two-point haul at Silverstone did not do the performance of the team’s 2018 challenger justice, as Haas retained its fifth place position in the constructors’ standings but lost ground to rivals Renault. 

“We should go away from here happier and with more points - I think we lost quite a few points. We need to go away and evaluate what actually happened at Turn 1 and avoid this for the future,” Steiner said. 

“This is obviously not acceptable because we keep on losing points while having a good car. I think we just need to go sit down and see what we can do to come away better, or at least where we should be.

“In the end, we’re not going home empty handed. The guys can be proud of what they achieved. We have two points. Three points-scoring finishes in a row is pretty good, but I wouldn’t say I’m ecstatic about it, as it should be a lot more.”

Grosjean believes the blame for the opening-lap contact between himself and teammate Magnussen can be equally apportioned as the duo tried to avoid the ensuing chaos at the first sequence of corners, with a number of drivers including Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton coming to grief. 

“At the beginning of the race with Kevin, I think it was a mistake from both of us,” Grosjean explained. “It shouldn’t happen, so we need to work on that to ensure it doesn’t happy anymore. 

The Frenchman ultimately crashed out of the race in a collision with Sainz at the high-speed Copse corner while battling for position. Grosjean felt Sainz failed to provide him with sufficient room as the pair entered the fast-sweeping right-hander side-by-side. 

“That obviously cost us a lot of positions on the first corner. After that, with Carlos [Sainz], I haven’t studied the footage, to be fair. 

“It felt like he turned in quite hard on the corner and didn’t give me much room on the inside. I tried to go on the brake to avoid a contact, but there was not much room for me to go. It’s a shame.”