Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says his team’s target is to match the development rate of other midfield teams this season.

Following two remarkable results which have seen Haas finish with one car inside the top six in each of the opening two races, one of the biggest challenges still facing the team this year is car development.

Steiner says Haas will also be working on upgrades for the VF-16 in its first season, and hopes to show a similar program to other midfield teams.

“It is very difficult, but we will continue to develop,” Steiner said. “We’ll continue to test in the wind tunnel and bring new developments to our car, and that will lead to gains in our aerodynamic program throughout the season. I think we’ll bring new developments like the rest of the midfield packs are doing, or aiming to do.”

Haas also carried out its first live race pit stops in Bahrain – completing one in just 3.1s – but Steiner still sees it as another area where big gains can be made.

“I would say two out of the three pit stops were good. We still can improve, but we were in the ballpark. In the third one we had an issue with one of the wheel nuts. I give credit to the crew member because when he went to put the wheel on, he realised something was wrong and took it off again. Had he not fixed it, the car probably would have been stopped after the first two corners from the wheel being loose.

“So we had an issue, but we solved it and maybe lost two seconds and it didn’t make a difference anyway. The mechanic and his actions stopped us from making an even bigger mistake.”