Haas to up pit-stop prep for Melbourne following last season's shocker

Haas F1 team has put "a lot of emphasis" on its pit-stop preparation ahead of the season opener in Melbourne in a week's time, following costly errors made last season by the American outfit.

Drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were fourth and fifth respectively at one point last season in Australia, but poor pit-stops made for quick successive retirements from the Haas duo.

Haas then swiftly responded by altering its pit-stop crew for the next race, and Guenther Steiner has revealed preparation has been made this time to avoid any of the same errors.

"We obviously haven't forgotten last year's pit-stops in Australia which went wrong," the Haas boss told Autosport. "This year, we've put a lot of emphasis on arriving there prepared.

"We brought a 2018 car to our car build in Italy so we could train every day and work on pit-stops. We did the same in Barcelona, as the current car is not always available for pit-stop practice when you test.

"Every day the whole crew practiced around 10-12 pit-stops a day."

Haas did not lead the 'midfield' battle in pre-season testing in Barcelona, but further analysis has brought out the positives to the VF-19, and Grosjean has been very positive of the car, especially with its livery - calling it "very sexy" and a "beautiful" car.