Gunther Steiner says Haas is resigned to a difficult end to the 2019 Formula 1 season and is now focused on preventing a repeat of its struggles next year.
Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen – who spun in qualifying – again struggled to get their tyres to work at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix and finished 14th and 16th respectively.
Steiner said he does not expect to see a drastic improvement in form at the remaining four grands prix, as Haas does not have a specific solution on the way.
“Not short-term,” said Steiner, when asked by Autosport if there was light at the end of the tunnel.
“We know where we are, why we are where we are, but to fix it is a different issue. And I don’t know if we can get on top of it this year consistently.
“It’s only four races left anyway, but if we get one or other good day… It’s not like I could tell you the next two races we are bringing an upgrade kit which will solve the problem.
“We just need to make sure that this doesn’t happen next year, because it is quite consuming.”
Asked how painful the final races might be he said: “Some more than others.”
Steiner said Grosjean’s and Magnussen’s struggles to get temperature into their tyres at Suzuka followed a familiar pattern to the rest of the season.
“We now know that these things happen, and they are never nice,” he said.
“You go in the race, always knowing that at some stage we will have an issue with the tyre, because we cannot generate the heat we need to make the tyre work.
“So as soon as blue flags come in, you slow down, the tyre gets cold, we cannot get the heat back in, and you fall back.
“It sounds almost too simple not to have a solution for it, but that is what is happening.
“So even if we can qualify on one lap normally decently – going into Q3 is still an achievement in my opinion, but we cannot hold on in the race, because of this reason.
“We just cannot keep the heat in the tyres.”