Steiner: I hope we score points in Jeddah

Haas boss Günther Steiner praised the team’s performance in the opening round of the season in Bahrain and spoke of goals for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Q: How do you rate the team’s performance in the first leg in Bahrain and the speed of the VF-23?
Gunter Steiner: The stage turned out to be quite difficult. There was very little time between pre-season testing and the first race.

Despite the difficulties in the race, qualifying generally went well. We reached the final with one car – Niko brought the team a very good result and returned behind the wheel after a three-year break. He failed to take a higher spot than tenth, but we were still pleased.

The start of the race did not go well. Niko damaged the front wing endplate and Kevin had trouble starting on Hard tyres. Overall, the VF-23 has speed, but we need to show that consistently in all races – that’s why I’m looking forward to the next phase.

Q: Did any of the teams surprise you in Bahrain?
Gunter Steiner: Like everyone else, we were surprised by the high speed of Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso. I think they did a great job with the car over the winter, so they have every chance of being at the top this year. In the race, their pace was similar to Red Bull – these two teams are ahead of the rest at the moment.

Question: How do you rate the joint work of Niko Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen?
Gunter Steiner: They respect each other and work great together. It is good for Kevin that he now has such an experienced partner as Niko. Engineers get a lot of information after each session, which helps them progress over the weekend and pick up the pace of the race.

Q: What do you expect from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
Gunter Steiner: The circuit in Jeddah is different to Bahrain, but everything we learned in the last stage will help to better set up the car in Saudi Arabia. I hope we get in range, unleash the full potential of the VF-23 and earn points.