Haas F1 Team Principal Günther Steiner was pleased with the team’s double points finish at the British Grand Prix, saying it was well earned after a run of races without points and several retirements.
“It was a good surprise to finish with two cars in the top-ten, but we know that the car is able to do it, and the team is able to do it, it’s just that the last five races were very difficult. When the opportunity arose this time with the red flag, and we were shifted up a few positions forward, we were not given anything for free.
“The car was strong, the drivers were strong, so we just capitalized on it and pushed forward. I think it was deserved after quite a few races which were frustrating.”
Steiner said an even greater result was within reach for Mick Schumacher at Silverstone Circuit, as he came close to gaining from eighth to seventh in his battle with Max Verstappen, a fight that was a highlight near the race’s closing.
“I’m pretty happy with a solid P8 and I’m not upset that we didn’t achieve seventh. Mick fought for it, but he fought one of the best, if not the best for that position. In the end he brought home P8 and his first points, which is very good.”
The team achieved this result in the same spec that they started the season with, while their competitors have been implementing upgrades on a regular basis. In ensuring their upgrade isn’t introduced prematurely, Steiner said that the team will release their package once they have made significant “gains”.
“I’ve always said we’re not going to introduce upgrades just to introduce them because everybody else does, we go our own way. We’ll introduce them when we feel that we have got enough gains that we actually have got something and it’s not just a publicity effort.
“We have a package coming, hopefully if all goes well for Hungary, and that’s just before the summer break and hopefully we’ll be able to unlock a bit more from the VF-22 with that. As we could see, the VF-22 is still strong even with its launch package.”
Looking ahead to the Austrian Grand Prix and beyond, Steiner said that the team is sufficiently capable of scoring points, however he won’t be disappointed if the team doesn’t earn points at any given race considering the intense level of competition and close margins in the midfield currently.
“July is a very packed month with races. It would be nice to have some more points but as I’ve said before, I don’t want to hype up the expectation now that when we don’t score points, we’re upset, that’s not true. The midfield is very tight together this year and at each race somebody else can get into the points. We need to have a flawless weekend to get into the points because our competitors are strong.
“Obviously, we will fight for points but if they are not coming there is a race two weeks later in France where we can score points. I think we can potentially score points in each of the races.”
Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd