Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner discussed the re-signing of Romain Grosjean in greater depth on Friday during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and explained how the decision to retain the Frenchman came about.
Steiner confirmed talks were held with Nico Hulkenberg, but they went with Grosjean to keep a stable basis after admitting their car, not the drivers, have been the team's problem in 2019.
"I just woke up one morning and decided to do it [sign Grosjean]," Steiner revealed. "Easy as that."
Asked to discuss Grosjean's strengths and weaknesses, Steiner joked: "Weaknesses as well? Where should I start!
"No. Romain’s been with us a long time and we looked at ourselves and in the moment the drivers are not our issue, it’s the car. So in the end we decided to focus on the car and keep the other things stable and therefore we re-signed Romain for another year.
"We know his weaknesses – a lot of people know that he has very big highs and very big lows as well. So, hopefully it’s time to change. I’m waiting for that and maybe next year is a good year."
Grosjean welcomed his new contract as he doesn't believe his journey with the team is over, given he joined the project from the very beginning.
"It’s great, obviously great news. I will be will be with team for a fifth consecutive season. We’ve built this story since day one and it feels like the story is not yet over, so very, very happy to carry on with the team.
"Obviously this year has been a challenge but also it’s been a good year in terms of growing up for the team and understanding what went wrong and how can we move on in the future. Looking forward to many more races in, black and gold for now, but under the Haas colours."
