Romain Grosjean says Haas’ VF-20 is now the “slowest in the paddock” and the same as it was during pre-season testing after a subdued display in Portugal.
Haas has struggled through the delayed 2020 campaign and opted not to bring any updates to the car in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Grosjean and team-mate Kevin Magnussen qualified only 18th and 19th respectively at the Algarve Circuit, in front of just Williams rookie Nicholas Latifi, as Haas’ woes continued.
“The less knowledge we have going into the race the best for us because I think with 10 years of experience in Formula 1 you can play around and try and pull something out of the hat,” said Grosjean on his hopes for the race.
“The car sadly I believe is now the slowest of the paddock and we have to try not to be last in quali and give our best.
“We just give it everything. It’s what we have. For the boys it’s hard to work with as well but it’s the same as winter testing so you’d expect to go down the ranking.”
Grosjean explained that his prospects were further hampered by a suspension complaint.
“We’ve been struggling with the car, it’s not a good car for the low speed corners, and there’s a fair bit here,” he said.
“We’ve been struggling with the overheating rear suspension so the car balance changes lap by lap and not by a small amount so I don’t know where we will be in the race.”
