Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner believes challenging at the head of the midfield is a realistic target for the opening race of the season in Australia next weekend.
After doubts over whether they could be left behind this season, the American outfit surprised many in testing with repeatedly strong lap-times along with good reliability, indicating that perhaps they have made a solid leap forward.
Their performance has grabbed the attention of many, with Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff stating they looked "pretty quick", and Steiner is pleased by the hype without getting too ahead of himself.
"After the test, we can say we’re in the midfield - and hopefully in the top half of the midfield," he commented. "The guys did a very good job on aero and design to get a car that is better balanced than the 2017 car.
"We’ll only see in Australia how it stacks up against the other cars," he noted. "But I think we are cautiously optimistic."
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Those watching the action in Barcelona did acknowledge how good the Haas - which many have compared to last year's Ferrari - looked when it was lapping the Spanish circuit with improvements under braking, the nemesis of their first two seasons, partly responsible.
"It looks like most of that problem is sorted, if not all," Steiner claimed, with the team switching supplier constantly last year. "Again, we haven’t done a race with it, so I’m still a little bit cautious."
As for the ambitions heading to Melbourne though, the Italian was setting the bar pretty high.
"Double points is always the best finish," he said. "Getting into Q3 with both cars, that is our aim this year because then, anything can happen."
