Schumacher pace breeds confidence at Haas

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has explained how Mick Schumacher's maiden Q2 appearance has put some "confidence" back into the workforce.

Across its first three years in F1, Haas became a force in the midfield and finished fifth in 2018 before finishing second-last twice and now looks set for a first scoreless season this year.

With Haas focusing on the opportunity of a regulation change in 2022, not upgrading its current car and running two rookies, however, Steiner had predicted a tough season.

Steiner had predicted a tough season all along, with Haas focusing on the regulation change for 2022 and therefore not upgrading the current car whilst fielding two rookies in Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Despite the difficulties, Mick Schumacher has twice reached Q2 and although damage prevented him from taking part in the session in France, the German was able to take part in Turkey.

“For me, I was obviously happy for Mick that he got it done, but for the whole team because we’ve had very few on-track highlights, and having something like this assures you that we can do it, that we can execute when we get the opportunity," said Steiner.

"I think this will have an impact in the next races for the team because they got some of the confidence back that they maybe lost a bit over the year and hopefully we can have another moment like this in 2021.”

The United States Grand Prix was one that fell by the wayside last year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic with F1 racing exclusively in Europe and the Middle East.

Reflecting on the importance of a home race for the only American-owned team on the grid, Steiner added: “Austin has always been good to us.

"We’ve got a good fanbase here in the States and it’s getting bigger and bigger as Formula 1 grows in the US.

"We have Haas Hill in Austin, which has been sold out for weeks, if not months already, and it’s always great to go there.

"Austin as a city and also as a racetrack, it’s just a good place and having missed out last year, I think the whole of Formula 1 is happy to be back in Austin and we look forward to it."

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