Steiner: We can claim points in all races

Haas F1 head Gunther Steiner commented on the results of the British Grand Prix, where Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen earned points, and also spoke of the team’s plans for the coming stages†

It has been three years since both Haas F1 drivers finished in the top ten – the last being at the 2019 German Grand Prix. Was the result at Silverstone somewhat unexpected for the team, given the starting position?

Gunther Steiner: It was a pleasant surprise, but we know that we can achieve such results, the team can do it, only the last five races have been very difficult for us. But this time there were opportunities as the race was stopped by red flags and we moved up a few places.

However, nothing is given lightly: we have a fast car, good racers, and we have managed to take advantage of the situation and find our way forward. I think we deserved this result after a series of failed races.

Q: Mick Schumacher fought to the finish, took 8th place and earned his first points in Formula 1. He put pressure on Max Verstappen until the last lap – do you think he had a chance to finish one position higher , or are you satisfied and 8th result?
Gunther Steiner: I’m quite happy with this result as Mick performed confidently and I wasn’t upset that we couldn’t finish seventh. Mick fought for him, he had a great duel with Max, but in the end he got points for 8th place, which is also very good.

Q: Since the team will only have a few races to release the technical innovations, are you happy that both cars finished in the top ten at the middle of the season, although the VF-22 remains in almost the same configuration that was tested in pre-season. season tests in Spain and Bahrain?
Gunther Steiner: As I’ve always said, we’re not going to innovate because everyone else is doing it. We have our own way. We’ll be rolling out a series of updates when we think we can really add through this. In fact, we have already prepared something, but we just don’t talk about it.

The set of updates is ready, and I hope that in Hungary, when we present it, everything will go well. This will be just before the summer break and I expect you will be able to get higher speeds out of the VF-22 with this. But as you can see, the car is still fast even in its original configuration.

Q: The Austrian Grand Prix follows the British stage back-to-back – how important is it to maintain momentum, continue to earn points and gain a foothold on the 8th line of the Constructors’ Championship?
Gunther Steiner: July is generally a very busy month, there are four races and it would be great to top up the points account, but like I said I don’t want to overestimate expectations.

In the middle of the pack this year there is a very close rivalry and in every race each of the teams in this group can earn points. The opponents are strong and to finish in the top ten we have to work flawlessly every day of the weekend.

Of course we will fight for the points, but if we don’t manage to get such a result, there will be a race in France two weeks after the Austrian Grand Prix where we can rightfully say that we are in the top ten end. I think in theory we can claim points in all races.

Q: At Silverstone, after the crashes in both Formula 1 and F2, we saw again how effective the Halo system is in terms of safety. Do you remember your first reaction to this innovation, which was first proposed a few years ago?
Gunther Steiner: When the proposal was made to introduce such a system, I cannot say that I was skeptical. Although I thought you could do without it then, but now I have to admit that you can’t do without Halo.

This system proved to be very useful, which is confirmed not only by the story of Zhou’s accident at Silverstone, but also by many other incidents that took place in F1, F2, F3 and other series. If someone now proposes to leave Halo, it would be tantamount to abolishing the use of helmets or the HANS system.

Now it’s just an integral part of a Formula 1 car’s safety systems. Of course we have the FIA ​​to thank for the fact that the federation very actively promoted Halo and realized its implementation, despite the objections of some of us. This is a good thing, and now its use is dictated by the technical regulations.