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In Mexico last month the strongest Haas driver in qualifying was Esteban Gutierrez, who lined up 17th, 2.697 seconds (3.427%) off the pace. Two weeks later in Brazil Romain Grosjean qualified seventh, 1.201s (1.698%) down.
Those figures encapsulate the biggest problem Formula 1 has as far as fans are concerned. There's simply not enough of this kind of fluctuation in performance to deliver the surprises - like Haas struggling one race weekend, flying the next - to keep those watching entertained.
Unpredictability is the lifeblood of any sport. In F1 of late it's been relatively easy to predict the identity of the drivers who will reach Q3. Over the season so far, of the 200 Q3 slots available only 17.5% have been filled by drivers not in a Mercedes, a Red Bull, a Ferrari, a Force India or a Williams. And the majority of those have been achieved through exceptional performances from Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr.
