Guenther Steiner has set out his expectations for what Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher can achieve from opposite ends of the grid in the Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint race. The team scored their first ever F1 pole position in Friday's qualifying when Magnussen set the fastest lap during the early stages of Q3. After a red flag halted the session due to George Russell beaching his Mercedes in the gravel, the increasing rainfall by the time that the session had resumed meant that nobody was able to improve on their earlier lap time. Magnussen will start from the front row for Saturday's Sprint alongside Max Verstappen, but Steiner has played down the prospects of a victory for the Dane.
Steiner on Magnussen's aim for Sprint
When asked on Sky Sports F1 if Magnussen could keep the rest of the pack behind him for the 24-lap event, Steiner joked: "I think now you're getting a little bit too optimistic! "24 laps [to] keep everybody behind will be difficult, but I'm happy with points. We don't need to win the race. "If we win, I'm more than happy, but it would be very unrealistic to think that. "As long as we stay in the points, we are happy."
Contrasting fortunes for Schumacher
Qualifying held a different outcome for Magnussen's teammate Schumacher, with the German set to line up at the back of the field in P20. The result of the Sprint will set the grid for Sunday's main Grand Prix, so Steiner believes that Schumacher's target should be to work his way forwards as much as possible. "I think he needs to try to get as [many] positions as possible to start good on Sunday," Steiner explained. "There [are] more points at play on Sunday. [In qualifying] when he went out, I think he was a little bit too hesitant to put a lap down, because we just changed to dry tyres." Haas currently hold P8 in the Constructors' Championship, with only one point keeping them ahead of ninth-placed AlphaTauri.
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