"Haas F1 Team ready to score points in 2022" - Guenther Steiner
Haas F1 Team was treated to a welcome surprise at the Turkish Grand Prix when Mick Schumacher was able to make the cut for Q2 in changing conditions. The German even had an outside shot at reaching Q3 but was unable to complete his lap in Q2.
The race, however, was a different story, as Schumacher was knocked out of the way by Fernando Alonso early on and would eventually finish in P19.
Speaking about the Turkish Grand Prix weekend, team boss Guenther Steiner was happy with the surprise Q2 appearance and said:
"Yeah, that was my personal greatest satisfaction, to see how the team executed. We are ready for next year, you know. We are fine. Yeah, we will make mistakes as well, but there was a chance there, and it was working as [if] they have worked together since three or five years."
“There’s a great deal of anticipation on my part for next year and of course that ‘rookie’ label will be gone!”
#HaasF1 https://t.co/YtLZbvblsU
Touching on Schumacher and the rest of the team, Steiner highlighted how impressed he was with the way they operated. He said:
"Mick was very calm, his race engineer did a great job, always staying calm. Especially having Ayao [Komatsu] working as standing in for Nikita [Mazepin's] race engineer, so there was no Chief Race Engineer there. And they all did a good job, everybody did what they needed to do, the mechanics. That's what made me happy because now we are ready. If we'll get a better car, the race team is ready to get some points."
Will Haas make the expected jump to the midfield in 2022?
Guenther is looking forward to a double-up of home races for us in 2022 🇺🇸
We’ll visit both Miami and Austin!
#HaasF1 https://t.co/HofGD02rUU
It's hard to answer that question as no one knows what kind of impact the 2022 rule changes might have on the grid. Will we see a field lined up in a different order compared to 2021, or will the status quo be maintained with the usual suspects in their respective positions?
Haas does seem to have a headstart on the rest of the field in terms of development. What it also has is a singular focus on resources being allocated to the 2022 season. However, Haas lacks in two critical areas: a mediocre track record in recent years when it comes to developing good midfield cars, and a relatively inexperienced driver lineup. Continuing to have Nikita Mazepin as one of the drivers is also going to attract some controversy because of the Russian's less than appealing social profile.
Whether Haas begins to climb up the pecking order in 2022 remains to be seen, but first, they'll have to ensure meaningful and consistent results on a regular basis.