Romain Grosjean explains why Haas signed Pietro Fittipaldi

Romain Grosjean insists the signing of Pietro Fittipaldi for Haas will help improve the team and push them further up the constructor's championship in 2019. He claims the simulation work hasn't been good enough and Fittipaldi will improve this.

“We need some help in the team, especially on the simulator side and we are still working on plans, making sure we get better," Grosjean told F1i.

“It has been okay, we have been able to work with it [simulator]. [But] with race drivers it is hard to go between races. The correlation is the trickiest part to get right and the one you need to get right before you do any set-up work."

Fittipaldi 22-year-old son to former World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, wasn't signed because of his name according to Guenther Steiner. The test role he has is described as "genuine" for the American team as they aim to hunt down Renault again next season.

"Does the last name help? For sure it doesn't hurt, but it also puts pressure on to him. I don't try to get anything for the team because of his grandfather," Steiner said.

“It’s not about publicity. If I wanted that, I could have asked Emerson to do something for us. We can employ Emerson, he is available!"