Guenther Steiner admitted it was a target achieved after seeing both Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez make it through to the final segment of qualifying, the first time ever that both Haas F1 Team drivers made it through to Q3 in their history.
Grosjean will start the Japanese Grand Prix eighth and Gutierrez tenth on Sunday, and the team principal of the American team admitted it was pleasing to see both driving well and making the most of their machinery on Saturday.
Steiner is now hopeful the team can convert the promising display of qualifying into a points finish on Sunday, something the team have not achieved since the Austrian Grand Prix in July.
“A very good day for us,” said Steiner. “We completed our program in FP3, the guys learned a lot and we were able to set the cars up for qualifying resulting in P8 and P10.
“To get both Romain and Esteban into Q3 was one of the targets for this year and we’ve now achieved it. If you’re in your first year and you get two cars in there by merit, it’s fantastic. Hats off to the team and to the drivers.
“Tomorrow we’re going to try to do a good race and, for sure, it’s possible now to get into the points.”
