The Austrian Grand Prix marked the first time Haas have scored points with both cars in consecutive races in nearly four years. And the result has left Team Principal Guenther Steiner dreaming of a P6 finish in the constructors’ standings this year.
Double points for Haas at Silverstone after a five-race drought – as Mick Schumacher netted his first ever top-10 finish in F1 – were repeated at the following round at the Red Bull Ring, as Schumacher claimed P6 to Kevin Magnussen’s P8.
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That’s the first time since the 2018 Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix that Haas have taken consecutive double points – and having seen his team jump from P9 to P7 in the constructors’ standings, Steiner is hopeful of going one spot higher before the end of the year.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but if we can keep seventh, or to end up sixth – it would be nice,” he said ahead of the French Grand Prix. “I think anything above sixth will be very difficult because the other teams are very good and they’re a little bit far ahead.
“If we can keep on going as we are going – obviously we will not have the perfect race weekends like the last two with both cars scoring points – but we just need to keep on working hard and maybe we can achieve sixth. First of all, we need to make sure that we stay seventh.”
Schumacher waited 31 Grands Prix for his first points, but is on something of a roll, having not finished lower than P8 in the previous two races. And ahead of this weekend’s round in France – at the track where he netted his first ever Q2 appearance last year, albeit by crashing and bringing out a red flag in Q1 – Schumacher took the time to reflect on how much he felt he’d grown as a driver in the past 12 months.
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“Obviously I feel more experienced,” said the German. “I feel a bit more complete but there’s still a long way to go. It’s only my second year, there’s so much more to learn in Formula 1 besides racing, and every day I try to exploit that to see where I can improve and where I still feel like I need work.”
Schumacher’s team mate Magnussen, meanwhile, confirmed that Haas were likely to fit their first major upgrade of the season at the upcoming race in Hungary, revealing ahead of the French Grand Prix that Paul Ricard would “likely be one of, or the last race we do with this package before getting the upgrades”.
