Romain Grosjean was left in shock after finishing fifth in second practice at the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.
The American outfit has been struggling for pace throughout the 2020 season, but on a circuit where they normally shine, the Haas driver put himself firmly into the midfield fight behind Mercedes and Max Verstappen.
Commenting on the result, Grosjean admits he’s unsure if he can sustain the position but does believe the team has been making progress with their VF20 in recent weeks.
“Is it real? Pinch me! I don’t know, in all fairness I don’t know,” said the Frenchman in amusement.
“No one really knows [why we are more competitive] – it’s the same car as it was since the beginning of the year.
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“We’ve done some good set-up work and so on, I think Silverstone the performance was really good but it was a bit power-sensitive, here it’s maybe less.
“And yeah, sixth in FP1, fifth in FP2, the long-run pace was really good. We’re really happy with that and there is some more work we can do on the car to bring it even more to my liking it but generally, what a day.”
Grosjean’s best of 1m18.1s was six-tenths faster than teammate Kevin Magnussen, but the Dane does think he can back up Romain’s performance.
“I didn’t get a great run on low fuel in FP2, so my best lap time doesn’t look good, but Romain showed what’s in the car,” he said.
“Running on high fuel, it was all very positive. The car seems to be working very well around here.
“It’s been very hot, there’s a lot of heat in the tyres, but it seems to be working. I think this track obviously suits us a little better. I’m pretty positive and very happy with today.”