Team boss Günther Steiner sees Mick Schumacher’s most recent qualifying achievements as evidence of the future at Haas.
Schumacher was only steps away from leading Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying in Russia after surpassing Antonio Giovinazzi, leading to a growing list of competitive qualifying performances by the German.
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Before the race in Sochi, Haas announced that he would keep Schumacher and Mazepin and Steiner is optimistic about the future.
“[The performance] shows that the boys are learning, that is the most important thing to be finished next year, “explained Steiner.
“It’s pretty nice. We were close, or Mick was close to Kimi [in quali] so it’s always encouraging. At least you get a few little satisfactions from a weekend.
“There aren’t many, but every little fight, at least we can take the fight to someone. I think we’re getting better every race weekend and the goal is to be in a good place next year if we can hopefully get points at the weekends . ”
Haas in a “decent place” with drivers
After the summer break, the mood between the two rookie drivers was heated, but before his home race Mazepin invited Schumacher to a “vacation” to Russia.
Steiner is happy that the team and the drivers are in a good starting position to start with full focus on the new regulations for the next season after a difficult year in which there was no development around the VF-21.
“They both learn a lot and like I said before and they will never admit it when you start in Formula 1 you think you know everything and 10 races later you actually realize how little you knew when you started”, he added.
“This process will take a while with such young drivers. They may learn for a few years, but they are in a good position now, at least they get to know all the processes, they know the team.
“We have always said that our goal is to have drivers who stay longer than a year because it takes time to get used to, especially when you are a rookie. I think we are with the drivers next year in a good position. “
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