20/06/2018
NEWS STORY
Warned ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend that they were not to crash due to a chronic lack of spare parts, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen did their very best to obey... until the Frenchman's unfortunate close encounter with a groundhog.
"I did follow the advice... I didn't steer to avoid it but, unfortunately, we had contact," admitted the Frenchman at the end of FP2. "It was high speed. I couldn't do anything to avoid it.”
As the team heads into the French Grand Prix weekend, the first part of the sport's first ever triple-header, team boss Guenther Steiner admits the spares situation is not critical, while expressing satisfaction with the update package introduced in Montreal.
"We're actually not in a bad place," says the Italian. "We're still tight, because with three races in three weeks, you just cannot catch up with producing parts should we have some damages.
"Luckily, we didn't have any big damage in Canada, except the nose which was damaged by the groundhog. Otherwise, we got away pretty good.
"We should have more spares for France and, hopefully, we don't have any accidents there or in Austria. That will bring us up to a normal quantity of spare parts after the stretch of three races."
Referring to the updates, he adds: "The data showed exactly what the upgrades were doing in Canada. We got the confirmation that the upgrades work.
"Romain was very complimentary," he revealed. For sure, France and the coming races should show more of what the upgrades are actually capable of doing."
Along with the various chassis upgrades, the American team also has access to the latest spec Ferrari engine.
"Having the latest and greatest engine is always good because the development always gives some advantage," admits Steiner. "Either you get more efficiency, more power, more drivability.
"For sure, we're happy to have it going forward until we get the next upgrade, which will be even better and greater. For now though, the proof was in Canada, where you have a lot of long straights where you need the engine at its maximum. We are very confident we will not have an issue with the engine."