Haas team boss Günther Steiner believes that the only upgrade package that the team will bring throughout the season has brought an improvement, although Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin made no impression in Imola.
Haas has been transparent in its upgrade plans for the current campaign as it has chosen to put its entire focus on the aerodynamic regulation changes in 2022.
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Although new parts have arrived as promised for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the two Haas drivers were the slowest in qualifying, while after early incidents they were two laps ahead of the red flag on lap 33.
Steiner defended his team, explaining that the more stable conditions in the early stages of the weekend would have allowed the two newbies to adapt to the changes.
“It [the upgrade] happens, yes, and the drivers say they think it’s better, “said Steiner.
“But it’s very difficult for us to compare it to Bahrain because it was their first race weekend first and foremost.
“Second, the circumstances in Bahrain have been difficult for all drivers who have been here for a long time. The wind conditions are constantly changing, especially for ours.
“But they like the upgrades we’ve made, so we’re pretty happy with them.”
The reigning F2 champion Mick Schumacher has confirmed his conviction that a Q2 appearance for Haas is not impossible this year.
Schumacher highlighted Alonso’s Alpine battles as the reason for his optimism after the Spaniard had set a time less than half a second faster than the leading Haas driver in the first quarter.
Schumacher said: “I had the feeling we could have done it [reach Q2]. I think the [one minute] 15.8 seconds away from Fernando [Alonso] was hard to catch then and there but it was a big improvement we made of Bahrain nonetheless.
“It was only our second race together. So there is a lot of hope that we can continue to improve and hopefully move forward.”
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