Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the American led team are aiming for points in their very first race, a feat very few teams have achieved in the history of the sport.
Of the three new teams which joined Formula 1 in 2010 – Virgin (renamed Marussia, now Manor), Caterham and HRT – none scored in their debut season, let alone their first race, with the sole survivor finally scoring in its fifth season.
Despite that, Haas, which has a technical partnership with Ferrari, has its sights set on a top 16 start and a top ten finish at the Australian Grand Prix in March.
“We would like to make the points,” replied Steiner, when asked by Sky Sports what he believed possible for their debut race, adding: “Qualifying, if we get to Q2 we will be fine.
“To have a chance of points is our goal and to put on a good show. To show what we have worked the last two years for and we have no big dramas going on. That is our biggest aim at the moment.”
Meanwhile Steiner quashed rumours that the team could sign some big name engineers, after speculation that Rob Smedley might be lured away from Williams.
“Established people, but no big names – there is no Adrian Newey for example,” he said. “I think there are less of the big names around.”
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