Austrian Grand Prix – Both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen secured the team’s best-ever Formula One points haul despite concerns about blistering tyres.
In a race where incidents and retirements were higher than usual, Haas took full advantage of their strong pace to secure a fourth and fifth place result, with Grosjean leading Magnussen to Haas’ biggest points haul in Formula One.
The result is Haas’ first double-points finish of the season – and Grosjean’s first points finish of the year – and has lifted the team to fifth place in the constructors’ championship at the expense of Force India and McLaren.
“It’s a great day for all of us, the whole team,” said Grosjean. “They deserve such a good result with the cars finishing fourth and fifth. It’s incredible for our 50th grand prix.
“I’m so, so happy for all the guys. We’ve done an amazing job all weekend. We had some luck in the race with the Mercedes cars not finishing, but it’s been a great weekend and we can really build on that.”
With several drivers feeling the need to make an additional pit stop due to tyre blistering, Grosjean added that Haas also had concerns about the tyres reaching the end of the race.
“There are still a few things we can improve here and there, but I’m happy we managed to get that long stint on the tires.
“The last 20 laps were not fun – there were blisters on the rears – and I was afraid they were going to explode at any time. I am just so happy that we hung in there and finished fourth and fifth.”
