Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner says the squad will not be distracted by its recent exclusion from the Italian Grand Prix, as it pushes for fourth in the standings.
Haas has reeled in Renault across recent events and drew level on points, but went ahead on results countback, through Romain Grosjean’s sixth place at Monza last weekend.
Renault, though, lodged a protest against the team's suspected illegal floor on Grosjean’s VF-18, and post-race checks deemed that the part did not conform to the regulations, resulting in Grosjean’s exclusion.
It meant Renault retained fourth in the standings, 10 points clear of Haas, which has appealed the disqualification.
Haas finished eighth in its first two seasons in the sport and when asked in the team’s Singapore Grand Prix preview whether its more competitive positioning increased scrutiny, Steiner said: "I wouldn’t expect it, but sometimes people react this way.
"If they cannot beat you on the track, they try to beat you in court. That is what seems to be happening. You have to work hard to be envied. We’d rather work hard for it and fight even more.
"You take any approach in racing. Is it [protests] the right thing to do? I’ll let others determine that.
Steiner stressed that he will not allow himself or the rest of the team to become distracted by off-track matters.
"Our people know where they need to put the effort in," he said.
"We don’t get distracted when we go racing. We try to always get good results in racing and leave the other stuff offline.
"I would say this [politics] happens, but you don’t actively think about it or put any effort into thinking about it. It’s in the back of your mind and it motivates you more.
"It’s more like, ‘I don’t really care what you do. We’re still going to do a good job.’ Everybody on the team is going for a good spot, fighting for fourth. They are motivated. It’s not like I have to tell them or they have to be told. Everybody has that spirit already in them."
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