Guenther Steiner admitted the eighth place finish for Kevin Magnussen in the Mexican Grand Prix was unexpected, particularly with how the team had struggled for pace and performance during Friday and Saturday’s running at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Both Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were eliminated from Qualifying at the first hurdle on Saturday, with the duo being the slowest of those who set times, but on one side of the garage at least, progress was made on Sunday, with four points being scored by the Dane.
Unfortunately, Grosjean was twice-lapped and finished at the rear of the field, with his afternoon being compromised a little by a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage whilst he battled Fernando Alonso, but Steiner, team principal at Haas, was happy that at least one car was able to battle through to the points on what was ultimately a very tough weekend.
“What can I say? We bounced back,” said Steiner. “Did we expect this? No, but I think we deserved it. Everybody fought hard after the disappointments of the last two days.
“Kevin did a magnificent job. Unfortunately for Romain, it didn’t work out as well. We are very happy for the team to have scored points again.”
