Guenther Steiner sets ambitious target as Haas look to climb F1 ranks

While not predicting it will be this season, Guenther Steiner is confident Haas will be able to win F1 races “at some stage.”

Haas were due to celebrate their 150th race at Imola as the sport’s youngest current constructor hit a milestone that many would have thought was unlikely in the build-up to their 2016 entry.

The team, founded by Gene Haas, survived financial difficulty, a pandemic and the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to remain on the grid and have become a fan favourite, owing largely to the team’s character as well as Steiner’s starring role in Netflix’s Drive to Survive.

Having achieved P5 in 2018’s Constructors’ standings, Haas have regressed somewhat since then, falling as low as P10 in 2021 but now appear to be on the comeback trail. Even P5 is not the limit of their ambition with Steiner, who has been in charge since the team’s inception, stating his confidence that one day, they will be winning races.

“What stood out for me is when we got to the race track in Melbourne in 2016 because we had so many people saying we wouldn’t make it. We made it, we’re still here and that makes me proud for the whole team,” Steiner said.

“We scored points in our first race which hasn’t happened many times before in Formula 1 history as well. For me, it means a lot starting a team, it’s a dream for many to start a team and I could do it thanks to Gene Haas who allowed us to do this. We’re in a good position now and we just try to get stronger and stronger, and we will.

“The present objective this year is to move up in the Constructors’ Championship from last year, getting better every year – it’s as simple as this – and at some stage we want to be winning races. I don’t know how far away it is and I’m not going to say it’s this season or next season, but at some stage, it will happen with Haas.”

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One of their current drivers, Kevin Magnussen, became the most experienced racer in Haas’ history last year and heading into the Monaco Grand Prix has featured 106 times for the American constructor.

He said of the many “super special moments” he picked his pole position at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix as his favourite,

“That’s a big number!” He said of the team’s 150 landmark. “It doesn’t feel like that much as it’s all gone by very quickly. It’s been a fantastic ride so far and we’ve had some super special moments – of course topped by the pole position last year in Brazil, but there’s been many more exciting moments.

“It’s always been an extra successful feeling scoring big points with this team because it’s such a small team in a very big sport, competing against some giant organisations. We’ve truly come from being real underdogs to being an established Formula 1 team.

“We’re still one of the smaller ones but the growth and the journey overall has been phenomenal, and I’m very happy to have been a part of it so far and hoping to have many more years.”