Haas surprised by Toro Rosso’s “good result for F1”

Haas team principal Günther Steiner admits he was surprised by Toro Rosso’s step in performance in Bahrain, but says its shock qualifying result is a good story for Formula 1. 

Toro Rosso was the surprise package in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, as Pierre Gasly made it through to Q3 en route to sealing sixth place, while Brendon Hartley was only 0.1s shy of making it into the top 10 shootout.

Haas was unable to replicate its third-row lock-out from the season-opener in Melbourne, as Romain Grosjean was eliminated in the opening segment, though teammate Kevin Magnussen was just a tenth behind Gasly’s Honda-powered Toro Rosso in seventh. 

But Steiner does not begrudge Toro Rosso its moment in the “spotlight”, adding F1 should be unpredictable more often. 

“I am surprised and actually they’re doing a great job”, Steiner admitted. “It’s good for Honda. We all know the feelings when for years and years you’re just beaten down and then all of a sudden there is sunshine - it’s great for them. 

“It’s good for the sport. There’s somebody else who can play in there, I think it’s great. That’s what F1 should be, the surprises, they mix it up. Everybody should have a little bit of spotlight.”

Magnussen will start Sunday’s race from sixth on the Sakhir grid once Lewis Hamilton’s five-place penalty is applied after Mercedes was forced to change the reigning world champion’s gearbox.

The Dane remains confident Haas can overcome Toro Rosso over a race-distance and banish the memories of it’s disappointing end to the Australian Grand Prix by scoring the US squad’s first points of the campaign. 

“It was fairly surprising. It’s a good job by them, definitely,” he said. “I don’t know whether that’s come from the engine or aero but it’s been a good step for them.

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t have a good car tomorrow but things can change and we know the tyres are pretty difficult here. We will have to do a lot of fuel saving as well. I’m looking forward to seeing but we should be able to fight.

“I want a good result and I want to start scoring points. We have a bit of catching up to do from Australia where we lost a good result. So we are going to try and do that tomorrow.”