Haas "at the limit of what we have" says Steiner

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes his struggling team is currently on "the limit" of what it can achieve.

From the beginning of the season, Haas has encountered a litany of problems that were compounded by Romain Grosjean suffering a suspected ERS water pump issue at the start of qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix that means he will line up last on the grid at the Red Bull Ring.

Kevin Magnussen at least made it out of Q1 in the wet conditions that dominated, but Steiner knows that is as good as could possibly have been hoped for, with the Dane half-a-second adrift the driver immediately ahead of him in AlphaTauri's Daniil Kvyat.

Referring initially to the conditions, Steiner said: "It's a leveller and some things were levelled out.

"We saw Kevin's lap and he improved in the first two sectors. He lost about four tenths in the last sector, so let's say he would gain another tenth, but that would still put him where he is now.

"I think that was the limit of what we have got at the moment."

Magnussen, too, was also accepting of the fact the car had little more to give.

"I felt like I was really on top of the car," said Magnussen. "I feel very comfortable in these conditions always, and I don't think I could have got any more out of the car.

"I was really pushing hard, but I realise that the gap is too big. There's only so much time you can make up. You can only do so much as a driver, and I think we - if you look at who was in front of us, yes, there were some surprises.

"Relative to how close to Ferrari we were in the dry compared to how far we were in the wet, I think we did a pretty good performance in the wet."

Before you go...

Analysis: What went into Hamilton's perfect wet pole lap?

"Drugged up" Norris fearing painful Styrian GP will be "bigger challenge"

Related

F1 Superstars

F1 star FUMES as team forced into shock replacement after Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• December 12, 2024 18:57

Latest F1 News

Axed F1 star given LIFELINE as new seat announced in official statement

• December 5, 2024 11:40