Jacques Villeneuve doubts Romain Grosjean is the right driver to lead the new Haas F1 Team as it prepares for its maiden season in Formula 1 next year.
Grosjean recently confirmed his move from Lotus to Haas, describing it as “new opportunity with a new team that is taking a very different approach to F1.”
However Villeneuve, a former champion who knows what it’s like racing for a new team, doubts Grosjean is the right person for the job.
“Does Grosjean have the mettle to build up a team? He seems to get cranky quite easily, which is not good when you’re trying to build a team, as there will be frustration,” Villeneuve told Motorsport.
“I guess the last couple of years at Lotus have been good to temper him down a little bit, so that’s good training.”
The 1997 champion reckons both Grosjean and Haas might have underestimated the effort involved in starting a new team and getting it up to a competitive state.
“It generally is quite hard, because generally people who come into F1 don’t realise how difficult it is,” he added. “It seems to be a proper set-up, but until they are on the track, let’s just wait and see.
“A lot of people have tried and been shocked at what it actually meant. But they seem to have the right approach.”
