Scoring points is the target – Steiner

Haas F1 Team travels to Germany with the aim of scoring some points ahead of the long summer break in August. Its team principal Günther Steiner intends to “end up on a bit of a high” before the silence breaks out.

The American squad enjoyed a torrid debut in the pinnacle of the motorsport and has already collected 28 championship points. It currently lies in eighth place ten points adrift of McLaren-Honda.

Steiner wants to make the jump on the Woking-based team as soon as in the next race.

“We would like to go into the summer shutdown one position higher than we are now in the championship,” he added.

“I think it’s always good that the last race, whether it’s before the summer shutdown or the next season, that you end up on a bit of a high, because then everybody relaxes and nobody is too worried.”

”If we can get out of Germany with a few points, that would be fantastic for everybody.”

Germany marks a turning point in the championship as it is the last race before the summer shutdown begins. Teams aren’t allowed to work for two weeks. They can decide which period from the summer break they choose.

“It’s very simple. You’re not allowed to do anything on the car. You cannot develop. You cannot manufacture.”

However, administrative work can continue even in this two-week long period.

“But you can keep your business running as normal on the administrative side of things. You still need to pay your bills and you still need to make payroll, so all of that part of the business stays up and running.”

Summer break was introduced in F1 a couple of years ago with two aims. Firstly teams wanted to save costs amid unsecure and troubled financial circumstances. Other than that, they wanted to give their staff a break and time for relax in the full-packed race calendar.

“I think it’s good for the whole team to have a break because all of our guys have worked very hard to get where we are. And now, to just keep on going, it wouldn’t be productive,” said the Italian.

Having a break sometimes can have a positive long-term effect as it recharges the batteries which is very important before the very intense weeks of flyaway races.

“Sometimes a step back is two forward, and I think that’s how it is for us.

“Even if we interrupt our momentum, it’s still better to interrupt it and then start again than to keep on going and always be exhausted, concluded Steiner.”