Haas F1 Team's drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez were pleased to finally get both of the American team's cars into the last part of qualifying for the first time.
Grosjean will lineup eighth, two spots ahead of Gutierrez who was sixth tenths of a second behind.
The former Renault man was pleased with how Haas' latest upgrades have worked at Suzuka
"I feel pretty good after that and I’m very pleased for the whole team," said Grosjean. "We brought all the updates we had. We made the new front wing work on the car and that made a difference in qualifying."
"The whole session went very smoothly. I didn’t get my DRS (Drag Reduction System) on the last stretch of the final corner," he added. "But, we’re here and tomorrow’s a long race at a very difficult track. Tire degradation will be very important. Hopefully, if the balance is as good tomorrow as it was today, we should be fine."
Gutierrez was happy, but surprised with the result, especially considering the team's struggles on Friday.
"I feel so happy for the whole team. It was surprising to arrive into qualifying and put both cars into Q3 as we started the weekend in a very difficult position," he said. "We lost a lot of practice time in FP2 and we were not completely happy with the balance of the car, but as a team we managed to recover completely. It’s a great skill that we need to keep hold of as this really made the difference today."
"We pushed the maximum we could and we fought right until the end. I feel very proud of the whole team," added the former Sauber man. "They all deserve this as they’ve been doing a great job. Without them, without my crew, my engineers, my mechanics, today would not have been possible. So, I dedicate what we have achieved today to them. Tomorrow, I’ll be pushing to the maximum and I won’t be looking back."
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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