Guenther Steiner had hoped to see his Haas F1 Team finish higher in the Constructors’ Championship in 2017, but ultimately they were unable to better their eighth place from their rookie campaign, which cost them some much needed financial reward.
Despite scoring eighteen more points in 2017 than 2016, Haas were denied seventh place by Scuderia Toro Rosso by just six points, while they were only ten points behind the sixth placed Renault Sport Formula 1 Team.
And Steiner says they would have liked the additional millions for finishing higher up in the standings, with even £100,000 certain to make a different to the youngest team on the grid.
“It’s always nice to get more,” said Steiner to Motorsport.com. “Who would say that three or four million don’t make a difference? Everything makes a difference, even £100,000, so you would rather have it than not have it.
“But I think that more than the money, it’s about how close we were and that we missed it. From eighth place to eighth place it’s more of the same. That’s racing, that’s sport – some you win and some you lose. For sure, we will miss the millions.”
Steiner pinpoints the strength of the midfield runners in 2017 to a reason why they ultimately finished eighth in the championship for a second consecutive season, but ultimately he feels they grew as a team, although he acknowledges there is still some more growing to do.
“The competition this season was very strong in the midfield,” said Steiner. “We lost a few points here and there and they make the difference.
“All in all, we have grown as a team and got better but still there is lots of work to do for next year.”
