Steiner reveals when Haas first identified persistent 2023 issue

Guenther Steiner says Haas first became aware of its 2023 tyre troubles in Bahrain, but were cautious owing to the asphalt in Sakhir.

The American squad's VF-23 machine has been rapid over one lap in the 2023 season with some eye-catching Qualifying results for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

However, it has been tricky to replicate this performance during races owing to high levels of tyre degredation that have plagued the team.

The issue first arose in Bahrain, but due to the aggressive track surface, Steiner says the team did not hede the warning.

Haas tyre problems

"We realised something about the tyre already in Bahrain but we put it down to the race track because it is a track that uses the tyre the most," Steiner told media including RacingNews365.

"That is when we realised that something was wrong.

"After Bahrain, we got a few good results and it got a bit in the background and it is not always straightforward.

"You don't get data from other cars, and once we told you we were running too hot on the tyre temperatures, you know it, and I know it now as well, but we don't have the data of the other cars that obviously shows us running higher than the other ones.

"It is a little bit of catch up but then you start to work on it and try to find the solution.

"We understand some of it because we are having too high temperatures but there could be something else, you always need to fix things and then find the next one.

"You can never wait until the Holy Grail. If I know why the Red Bull is so fast, then why don't we do the same?

"You need to get there slowly. It is not like you are going to say: 'Now I know what is wrong and fix it, we will win races. That is going to be a bit too easy.

"So you fix it bit by bit hoping that the other teams don't make another leap in front of you and you catch up, that is the idea of upgrades.

"We know that our tyre is running too hot, so we will fix that one and then see what is next, and is there something else that is [causing] such a big degradation of the tyre?"