Steiner: I hope we will be on the podium soon

Haas F1 head Günther Steiner summarized the results of the previous stage of the season, in which the team performed very successfully, and shared his expectations regarding the races that would last until the summer break.

Wonder if the team has earned points in two races in a row, held at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring, which could be considered another significant achievement this season. What do these results mean to you and how would you characterize the form of the team in which it completes the first part of the championship?
Gunther Steiner: I’m very happy with the results and happy for the team because I’ve always said to believe in yourself. If we’ve shown good results in the past, we can show them now, and that’s what we do.

I think in the run-up to the next two races we should be cautious and not make too bold predictions: we don’t think it will be easy to continue to perform at this level. For this, many people have to make a very serious effort. But we will try and hopefully we can earn some more points, and then we can relax in peace during the summer holidays.

Q: Can we say the team worked almost perfectly in Austria because there were good results in practice, then both cars went to the final of qualifying, Kevin Magnussen scored points in Saturday’s sprint and both riders finished in the top ten on Sunday?

How hard is it to achieve stability on all days of the weekend?
Gunther Steiner: We can say that it was almost a perfect weekend, although there is always a chance to work better. The ideal result in motorsport is when you win everything, but nobody succeeds.

We did a really good job, everything was done with the highest quality, mistakes were avoided, there were no failures. But in every aspect you can achieve some improvements, and one day we will be on the podium. Hope this happens soon. In general, everyone on the team works hard, everyone tries to do their job well, and there is no secret in that.

Q: The team has risen to 7th place in the Constructors’ Championship, earning just 19 points in the two previous stages. But were there any races earlier in the season where you missed opportunities? Do you think the team could have had more points? And do you plan to revise the targets for 2022, given the growth in results?
Gunther Steiner: I don’t want to be in the lead, but if we can manage to stay in 7th place or finish the season in 6th place in the team standings then that will be great. But it will be very difficult to rise above sixth because the other teams are very strong and noticeably ahead of us.

Obviously not all race weekends will be as perfect as in the previous two stages when both cars finished in the top ten, but we have to keep working hard and maybe we can get to 6th place. But first, every effort must be made to remain on the seventh line of the Constructors’ Championship.

Q: The VF-22 has performed well on several tracks: what can you say about the expectations associated with the upcoming French Grand Prix?
Gunther Steiner: Of course the team has a very fighting spirit and our car is very good at handling different types of tracks. I think our worst performances were at fast tracks like Jeddah and Baku, and I’m also worried about Spa and Monza. But I’m pretty sure if we do it right, we can earn points again. I don’t know exactly how much, but the technique worked reliably in the previous two stages and I hope that will be the case in the races that last until the summer break.