5 Things We Learned From F1 Testing Week 1

#3 - Haas' Reliability Could be Troublesome

Grosjean experienced a few technical gremlins on Wednesday.

Haas have improved their constructors' standings year-on-year since joining Formula 1 in 2016, so hopes are high for the American team going into 2019. They began the previous season with the fourth fastest car, but failed to capitalise on this thanks to some embarrassing amateur errors.

We only know a car's true pace once the first Grand Prix qualifying session has been completed, but some things though, such as reliability, are impossible to mask. Wednesday was a hard day for Romain Grosjean and Pietro Fittipaldi, (the team's test driver) as the VF-19 suffered three mechanical failures, which limited the team's running.

Sure, there were no further issues the following day, and one of the goals of testing is to find and fix faults in the car, but it isn't confidence-inspiring. It can't be engine related, as the Ferrari and Alfa Romeo have been bulletproof so far, so the Haas chassis had a fundamental problem, which has hopefully now been resolved. If it's not, though, then a slow start could be on the cards from mid-March.