Steiner wants Haas to "enjoy the dream" after Bahrain F1 result

Magnussen qualified seventh for Haas on Saturday, and ran as high as fifth in the opening stages before slipping behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ George Russell.

But when Perez and team-mate Max Verstappen both retired in the closing stages due to a fuel pump issue, Magnussen rose to fifth place once again, giving Haas its best result since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.

It was the first time Haas had finished in the points since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, ending two difficult seasons that have seen the team struggle for performance and fail to finish a race any higher than ninth.

Asked how he would understand Haas’s result in Bahrain, team principal Steiner said: “I don't want to understand it, I want to live the dream!

“[Kevin] knew that he had a good car. We saw that [in qualifying]. But then you still need to deliver.

“The longest stint we did up to now was 18 laps in a row. So now to do 57 was quite an achievement, and we didn’t put our foot wrong, nothing - the team didn't do anything wrong. Everything was well prepared.

“Also the qualifying, you are fighting on a difficult position, but everybody did their job and made the right decisions at the right time. So it was a very good weekend.”

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Magnussen’s points haul put Haas third in the constructors’ championship after the opening race, only trailing Ferrari and Mercedes, who locked out the top four positions.

“I don't think that will stay for long,” Steiner said. “But anyway, we’ll enjoy the dream.”

Haas opted against developing its car at all for the 2021 season, preferring to place full focus on the new technical regulations arriving in 2022. The decision meant last year was a