For the first time in their short history, the Haas F1 Team saw one of their drivers make it into the top ten shootout, with Esteban Gutierrez securing tenth on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Mexican racer felt the laps that got him into Q3 were ‘fantastic’ and he enjoyed pushing his car to the limit in order to make the breakthrough for the team, which have got close before this season but never made that final step.
Having extracted what he feels was the maximum from his car on Saturday, Gutierrez is now looking to do the same on Sunday as he seeks to finally breakthrough for his first points since he made his Formula 1 return at the beginning of the season.
“First of all, I have to say thank you to the team,” said Gutierrez. “I’m very grateful and proud of them because everybody has done a great job in achieving the consistency that has allowed us to work on the details that make the difference.
“In qualifying, for the first time we broke the top-10 barrier by getting into Q3. It was an amazing effort from everyone involved in setting up the car throughout the weekend and having the communication and level of understanding to make it work.
“The laps were fantastic. I really enjoyed them and I loved pushing the car. Today we have extracted the maximum from our opportunities and we have to make sure we do the same tomorrow.”
