Grosjean insists Haas has best "baseline of car" in midfield despite Baku struggle

Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean was left frustrated after a weekend full of struggles for the American team, dubbing the weekend as "unsurprising but f****** annoying", but the Frenchman still believes Haas has the strongest base of any car in the midfield.

Heading into the season, Haas were looking very strong indeed, coming off a fifth-place finish in 2018 in the constructors' championship. 

In the first three Grand Prix weekends of the 2019 season, Haas have had both cars make it to Q3, a feat only Ferrari and Mercedes had achieved as well.

In Baku, however, Haas typically struggle, and it was the same this time round. Both Grosjean and teammate Kevin Magnussen got nowhere near Q3 on Saturday last week, nor did they get near the points on Sunday. A frustrating weekend, but Grosjean keeps the faith.

"The baseline of the car is still the best in the midfield, to be fair," he was quoted by Motorsport. "I believe downforce and so on is there, but if you can't get the tyres to work, whatever you have it doesn't seem to be working.

"I'll be in the simulator next week. I'm going to try the update for Barcelona. It's quite a big one and hopefully, it helps. But if we don't get the tyres in the window it's just pointless.

"I don't think it's downforce[-related] because I believe we have more downforce than some other cars in the midfield, and they can run the tyres, so it has to be somewhere else."

Haas will be looking to bounce back strong in Spain next weekend, a track that typically suits them well.