Monaco GP: Haas explain disqualification from Qualifying after technical breach on rear wing | F1 News
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has explained how failures in communication and procedure led to both cars being disqualified from Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying.
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen qualified 12th and 15th respectively at the famous street circuit, but were disqualified from the session due to a non-compliant rear wing element.
When the upgraded rear wing opened in the track’s sole DRS zone, the clearance was found to be greater than the maximum allowed opening of 85mm.
Komatsu said that the team’s designers had not properly explained to Haas’ trackside squad the differences in between the new rear wing and the previous part.
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“We had a new rear wing for Monaco, which was good,” Komatsu told reporters on Sunday morning in Monaco.
“But the issue is it was designed a slightly different way, and then just a slight lack of communication from design intention to the guys who were doing the legality check on the trackside.
“The guys doing the legality check at trackside didn’t realise this change in the concept, where is going to be the limit, which is at both extremities. On previous wings, the limit was always around the centre, so they checked it in the same way.
“It’s no excuse. Regardless of any information, you should be checking across the whole span, but they weren’t. They were just concentrating on more centre. Then just the last bit on both extremities, it was too wide because of that.”
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Komatsu confirmed that Hulkenberg and Magnussen will be allowed to start from the back of the grid, as opposed to the pit lane, with the FIA having approved the changes required to make the cars compliant.
The Haas boss, who took over from Guenther Steiner at the end of last season, admitted that the failure was “incredibly frustrating”.
“If the designers made it absolutely clear that the design intentions are slightly different to the wings you’ve been using and you have to check it in this way, that would have helped,” Komatsu added.
“But at the same time, even without that information, the trackside legality check guys should have checked the whole legality surface. So it’s just a failure in management sense, unfortunately.
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“There’s no performance gained, absolutely zero, but that’s not the point. The car needs to be legal. So we just have to accept this as a failure of the team and then learn from it, make sure we don’t make the same mistake again. We can’t.
“I had a team meeting earlier this morning just to explain that. We just have to accept it as a team, take it on the chin. It’s going to be a long afternoon in Monaco but we’ve only got ourselves to blame, so you have to take responsibility and move forward.
“Of course it is incredibly frustrating but there’s nothing we can do at this minute, so we just have to learn from it and take it on the chin.”
The American-owned team have defied low pre-season expectations to sit seventh in the constructors’ standings after the opening seven rounds of the season, but are highly unlikely to be able to score points from the back of the grid.
Sky Sports F1’s live Monaco GP and Indy 500 schedule
Sunday May 26
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Monaco GP build-up*
2pm: The MONACO GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
5.30pm: The Indy 500
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
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