Steiner: Speed showed Haas could have been "best of the rest"
Haas boss Gunther Steiner says the flashes of speed his car still has in its Melbourne-specification shows the outfit could have been a contender for 'best of the rest' this season.

The American-owned outfit started the campaign strongly, but problems with an upgrade that it brought to the Spanish Grand Prix that did not work left it struggling for results.
It spent much of the campaign trying to get to the bottom of the issue and, in the end, it has recently been running its car in the original aero specification that it began the season with.
But following a double Q3 appearance at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Steiner is well aware of just different the campaign could have looked if it had made as much progress with its car as other teams.
"We could have been in a good spot," said Steiner. "But we have nobody else to blame than ourselves that we didn't react to [the problems] properly and adequately when we should have.
"So we just need to learn out of it and not go down that path again. I'm well aware of that and hopefully next year we can start off again as good as we did this year, but then keep on developing."
Steiner does not believe that the ultimate pace of the car in qualifying would have changed dramatically if the team had kept up development, but he says its race performance would have been dramatically different.
"I think it is not half a second [of laptime], it is more like the stability in the race," he said. "That is what we are lacking and that comes with more downforce. So if you have half a second, we would be where we were in Melbourne: the best of the rest."
Read Also:
With Haas having slipped to ninth place in the constructors' championship, Steiner says he cannot be jealous of what other teams achieved this year by doing a better job – and finishing on the podium like Toro Rosso and McLaren did in Brazil.
"I think it's good for the sport to see these people on the podium but of course it is frustrating it should be us and not them," he said. "I'm not angry against them.
"They got the chance and took the opportunity, and we didn't you know. Nobody is to blame but ourselves.
"You cannot blame them for that because they did a better job. You know, it's like, obviously we need to look at ourselves in the mirror and not at the other ones and what they did. We need to do as good as they did, but we cannot say they should not be there.
"They did the right thing. In the beginning they were not as good as us and they overtook us. What we did was not the right thing to do. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves."

Previous article
Sainz says there is "nowhere" to look beyond McLaren for 2021
Next article
Gallery: F1’s youngest-ever podiums of all time

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Teams | Haas F1 Team |
Author | Jonathan Noble |
Steiner: Speed showed Haas could have been "best of the rest"
Trending
Is Red Bull Hiding the Real RB16B? | F1 2021
Sergio Perez's First Drive With Red Bull Racing
The pros and cons of F1's 2021 rule changes
In the strategy for grand prix racing's future, 2021 represents a significant step towards the goal of closer racing and a more level playing field. That's the theory behind the latest raft of changes, but will they have the desired effect?
What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch
Red Bull made no secret of the fact its 2021 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, but in keeping the same foundations while hiding some tightly-guarded updates with its RB16B, the team aims to avoid suffering the same pitfalls of previous years
How Albon plans to fight his way out of Red Bull limbo
Alex Albon has faced the media for the first time since he lost his Red Bull drive at the end of 2020 and dropped out of a Formula 1 race seat altogether. He has a history of bouncing back from setbacks, so here's what he must do to rise again
Ranked! Carlin's greatest F1 graduates
Carlin has helped guide enough drivers to Formula 1 to fill out an entire grid, plus a handful of reserves, to create a remarkable alumni list. With Yuki Tsunoda set to join that group, Motorsport.com has ranked its graduates to grace the grand prix scene...
Why Alfa's 2021 launch says more about its 2022 plans
Alfa Romeo launched its C41 with a revised front nose, but there's little to suggest it will surge up the leaderboard in 2021. As the team frankly admits, it's putting its eggs in the basket labelled 2022 and hoping to hold the eighth place it earned last year
Why Gasly’s AlphaTauri haven is a blessing and a curse
Red Bull opted not to re-sign Pierre Gasly even before it decided to drop Alex Albon and so the Frenchman's Formula 1 journey will continue at AlphaTauri. This has positive and negative connotations for one of last season's star performers.
Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021
After seven years of defeat at the hands of Mercedes, Red Bull is as hungry as ever to secure a fifth world championship. But there are key challenges it must overcome in 2021 to switch from challenger to conqueror
How AlphaTauri has adapted to F1's new rules
AlphaTauri launched its AT02, complete with a new livery, as it bids to home in on an already-tight midfield battle. Although there were few outright new parts displayed on the launch render, there might be a few clues into further changes down the line…