Formula 1

U.S.-based Haas F1 Team lands best qualifying result to date

Published Mar. 25, 2017 12:53 p.m. ET

Adam Cooper

Romain Grosjean and Haas F1 created the biggest surprise of qualifying in Melbourne when the Frenchman exceeded expectations by earning sixth place.

He was helped by a crash for RBR’s Daniel Ricciardo, but nevertheless it was an impressive showing for the U.S.-owned team. The only disappointment was that teammate Kevin Magnussen was down in 17th.

“It was quite an unbelievable qualifying session for us,” said Grosjean. “It’s a shame that we didn’t get Kevin there, but the car is looking good, even better than what we’ve seen recently. We’ve made some good progress over the weekend. There’s a lot more we can understand and analyze but, generally, it’s a great start for us.

“It’s always good to start with a strong qualifying session. It tells you that if you keep improving the car, you could be in a good place very soon. If that’s our baseline, and you can fight between sixth and 10th position, where it’s so tight, it would be great to be there most of the time and enjoy some good times.”

Team boss Guenther Steiner added: “Great for Romain. He put a lap down, second to none, I would say. Thanks to all the time again because what they did was fantastic. It’s our best qualifying – sixth-place behind the big ones. That’s great for the youngest team on the grid, and I hope we have a good race tomorrow. We are ready for it.

“The start is new for everybody and I hope we get a good one. You don’t know but we’ll try our best. It’ll be an interesting day at the front end. It seems like it’s closer than it’s been in a long time. So, let’s see what happens.”

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