Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner believes the squad was “unlucky, then lucky” en route to claiming its first ever double points finish at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Haas secured 29 points in its maiden season, all courtesy of Romain Grosjean, while top 10 finishes in China, Bahrain and Spain had been shared between Grosjean and team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
Both Grosjean and Magnussen occupied top 10 positions during the opening phase in Monaco before the Dane slipped to 13th amid an unscheduled second stop, caused by a puncture.
However, drama for midfield rivals enabled Magnussen to move up to 10th place, two spots behind Grosjean, ensuring Haas finished a race with both cars in the points for the first time.
“A first time with two cars in the points is something we wanted to achieve this year,” said Steiner.
“We achieved it in race six. We wanted it before then, but race six is not too bad.
“We fell out of the points and we got back in after the puncture, so I think we can be pretty happy and content with what we did.
“Everybody executed. We never lost our cool. We always stayed on top of it. We got unlucky, but then we got lucky again at the end, so we’re fine.
“We’re maturing. It takes time to mature and I think, now, we see some results.
“There will still be ups and downs, but we’re always making steps. Sometimes you don’t see them because we’re not in the points, so nobody realises, but the team has not just made a magic step [in Monaco]. We’ve made improvements over the last six months.”
Haas drew level on 14 points with Renault, but remained eighth in the Constructors’ championship.
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