Haas F1 team principal Gunther Steiner says the American outfit is not being overconfident by aiming to score points in its maiden Formula 1 season.
The new team will debut in F1 at next months’ season opener in Australia, and its first F1 car will be unveiled on the opening morning of winter testing in Barcelona, with a roll-out schedule for February 22.
But while recent new entrants like Caterham and HRT have failed to work out, there has been plenty of interest surrounding Haas F1’s first season thanks to its experienced driver line-up of Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez and the technical partnership it has with Ferrari.
Steiner believes the target of scoring points in its first F1 season is not arrogant or overambitious, adding that Haas wants to show it is still possible for new teams to do well from the very start.
"We have set ourselves high targets – because you always want to do well," he told Motorsport.com. "I think now people try to talk a little bit that we are over-achieving [in our ambitions]. But I think honestly, we are aiming for points. We have to aim high to get some.
"We don't want to sound arrogant that we are going for points. No. We are aiming for points. But the main thing that we want to do, is that we want to show that even for a new team coming in, it is still possible to do F1 starting from nothing.
"Our biggest thing is: we want to go out there and be respected by doing a good job. If that good job is finishing races, fine, but if we can pull it off and get in to the points then fantastic. I think we don't expect to be on the podium. We have clear expectations."
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