Kevin Magnussen is confident that Haas can maintain its current form, following an encouraging start to the 2017 Formula 1 campaign.
Magnussen’s team-mate, Romain Grosjean, qualified sixth in Australia and raced in seventh place before retiring, while Magnussen surged to eighth, scoring his first points for Haas, in China last weekend.
Magnussen’s result lifted Haas to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship and he is optimistic that the team can compete for points once more this weekend in Bahrain.
“I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be as good as China, or even Melbourne,” he said of the upcoming event at Sakhir.
“I think we have a good car that works well in most conditions and I think, as I said, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to perform here.
“The midfield is very close and competitive, so getting points, you really need to be on top of everything.
“That’s our target: to be on top of everything and to try and score points again – but it’s not easy.”
Magnussen also reckons Haas can perform strongly despite the small size of its team, compared to more esteemed rivals.
“In some situations, it’s difficult when you’re small,” Magnussen said of Haas.
“For example, when we need to go into FP3 with no practice; when we miss Friday like we did in China, it’s not easy because our preparation before the race weekend is not as strong as the big teams, of course.
“But, we react quickly and we take decisions well and, as I said, if everything goes well, I think we should be strong.”
