Steiner warns against jumping to conclusions over new F1 rules

Haas team boss Günther Steiner has warned against jumping to conclusions over the success Formula 1's aerodynamic rule changes for 2019 after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, believing it will not set the tone for the year to follow.

F1 bosses opted to tweak the aerodynamic rules relating the front and rear wing designs for 2019 in a bid to make it easier for cars to follow each other on-track, thus creating more possibility for overtaking on-track.

Opinion was mixed through pre-season testing about the success of the rule tweaks, although most opted to reserve judgement until after the first race of the year in Australia next weekend.

However, Haas F1 team principal Steiner feels the difficulty in overtaking at Albert Park in Australia means it will not be a fair reflection of whether or not the new rules for 2019 have worked. 

“The aim of the regulation change was to make passing easier, but the proof is in the pudding. We’ll only really see after three or four races how it works out," Steiner said in preview of the race.

"Australia, in general, is a very difficult track to pass at – probably one of the most difficult ones. If it doesn’t work there, we shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it will not work for the whole year.

"We need to see if it works or not, and you only really find these things out in race situations."

Haas heads to Australia hopeful of avoiding its double retirement from the 2018 opener, when it squandered a possible P4 and P5 finish due to mistakes in the pit stops.

A failure to properly attach all four wheels to the car led to drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen retiring in quick succession of each other, with memories of the error still lingering for the team.

"We obviously haven’t forgotten last year’s pit stops in Australia, which went wrong. This year we’ve put a lot of emphasis on arriving there prepared," Steiner confirmed.

"We brought a 2018 car to our car build in Italy so we could train every day and work on pit stops. We did the same in Barcelona, as the current car is not always available for pit stop practice when you test.

"Every day the whole crew practised around 10 to 12 pit stops a day."