Haas unsure what caused Sepang race retirements

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner says the American outfit is unsure what caused its cars to both retire from the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Romain Grosjean spun into the gravel at the final corner in the early stages of the race after a brake problem.

His team-mate Esteban Gutierrez then retired from the race after his front-left wheel came loose on lap 41.

Haas was fined €5000 for the incident, which took place just after Gutierrez had pitted for a new set of tyres.

“After we saw light at the end of the tunnel after qualifying, where I think we did a pretty good job, it got dark again [on Sunday],” Steiner said.

“We don’t really know yet what happened with both of the cars. One had a brake failure and the other, obviously, lost a wheel.

“We’ll have to see what exactly failed with the brakes on Romain’s car. We lost a wheel on Esteban’s car, but we’re not sure yet why.

“The pitstop seemed to be ok and he got going. We need to see if a mechanical part failed or if it wasn’t tight, but we don’t know yet.

“Obviously, we’re moving on to Japan. We’ll try to put ourselves in a better position again there.”