Haas eye overtaking Toro Rosso for fifth place

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes that they will be able to catch up and overtake Toro Rosso in the constructor standings. The Red Bull Junior team currently sit fifth in the standings, while Haas linger in eighth. However, due to the close nature of the midfield teams, Steiner thinks the mountain is not too large to climb.

Last time out in Canada, Haas scored their first ever double points finish, with Romain Grosjean in eighth and Kevin Magnussen in tenth. They're now level on points with Renault, with 14. Toro Rosso has 29 points to its name and is nine points clear of fifth-placed Williams.

"There is so little room between hero and zero," said Steiner. "If you're not in the points it looks really bad, but six spots are already taken, typically. We are fighting for four spots. It is very difficult to achieve, but we've achieved it four times now this year.

"You see the points difference between Toro Rosso, which is fifth and us in eighth. They've got 29 points and we've got 14. They have double the points, but 14 is not insurmountable. You get two good results and you're there. That shows how competitive it is in the midfield. So for us to be in the points four times out of six races is some measure of success."

Haas only made their debut in Formula 1 in 2016 and are already around halfway towards their points tally of last year. Steiner thinks that they are a lot more "stable" in their second year of competing.

"We're already confident as we've been in the points four times in the last six races," he continued. "In Australia, before we broke the turbocharger, we were seventh. So, the only race where we weren't in a points position was Russia. From all our races, we've always been in a good position, so we're a lot more stable than last year already.

"You can't always get in there all the time –  even the big teams like Force India, which is fourth in the championship, didn't get into the points in Monte Carlo with either car. That's because the midfield is so tight. I think we can achieve it [a double points finish], because if you're there or about, it will happen."

Fergal Walsh