Haas endure a testing time in USA

The Banbury team left empty-handed after Kevin Magnussen’s ninth-place finish was disqualified and team-mate Romain Grosjean suffered a DNF stemming from a collision on the opening lap.

FIA stewards determined that Magnussen’s Haas VF-18 consumed more than the maximum allotment of 105 kilograms of fuel during the 56-lap race.

Team boss Guenther Steiner said: “It wasn’t a good event for us. Grosjean’s collision with [Charles] Leclerc on the opening lap meant he ended up getting a penalty for the next race, so we’re penalised for that already. We get a three-place grid penalty for him.

“Kevin [Magnussen] finished ninth but has been disqualified because we used too much fuel. In the end, that’s our responsibility to control the fuel amount, but I still disagree with Formula One having to run on these rules.

“I hope next year, with having 110 kilograms, this will change, but we change another rule and put a big front wing on, so maybe this will be the same. One day we’ll get to have a good show, but at the moment it isn’t.”

Meanwhile, championship leader Lewis Hamilton has another chance to wrap the title up this weekend in Sunday’s Mexico Grand Prix.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas driver was only third in Sunday’s US Grand Prix but still extended his lead over nearest rival Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari and Red Bull proved to be incredibly strong in Austin and team boss Toto Wolff said: “This has been the most difficult season so far. You could see, some races were going in our favour and then Ferrari was again very strong.

“Then, we had a good run and now Ferrari had a really good weekend.

“In the drivers’ championship we are in a solid position. We mustn’t drop the ball, we’ve seen this in the past with other teams.

“With the constructors’ championship that is very important for the team. Nothing is done yet. There are 129 points to be scored to the 66 lead that we have.

“Of course, that is also a good buffer but no reason to think that we have the trophy in our hands because you can see we don’t have it in our hands.”

Hamilton added: “I hadn’t had a single thought about the championship this weekend. There were a lot of questions about it but I was just here to win.

“My sole goal is to win those four races, that is what my mind was set on. Naturally, if you do that, then maybe you can win the championship.”