Gene Haas "ecstatic" over Grosjean's stunning F1 results
Although Bahrain was several continents away, a huge applause erupted in the No. 41 Haas NASCAR team's lounge at Martinsville as Romain Grosjean crossed the finish line fifth at the Sakhir circuit on Sunday.
Photo by: XPB Images
"Beginner's luck," team owner Gene Haas said humbly.
Although pundits didn't anticipate that the Haas F1 Team would make a splash so early in the season, the only American entry in the Formula 1 World Championship has earned points in the first two races with Grosjean behind the wheel.
"They've done a great job, I think," Haas told Motorsport.com. "Romain, he's a heck of a driver. He got it done.
"We had a little bit of luck because [Esteban] Gutierrez has had two DNFs here, and Romain hasn't, so it's been lucky for us from that point of view."
Gutierrez was collected in a wreck by Fernando Alonso 16 laps into the season opener in Melbourne.
On Sunday, he suffered a mechanical failure in the first 10 laps. But Frenchman Grosjean has paid early dividends for the rookie organisation.
"If he keeps finishing fifth and sixth, that's a heck of a team builder," Haas said. "Everybody's ecstatic about that.
"There's so much disappointment in racing that, when you have an event that makes you feel good, it really makes a big difference to team morale."
Team owner decides to skip GP
Haas' decision to attend Martinsville Speedway - where his four Stewart-Haas Racing teams were competing in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race - and skip Bahrain was simply a case of time management.
"Bahrain was a 20-hour flight, and I didn't want to spend a day getting there and a day getting back," Haas said. "I had some other stuff I had to do in-between here, so I came to Martinsville.
"I'm going to China, because it's only a 12-hour flight. It's like these things of trying to figure out how to best allocate your time."
Overall, however, Haas introduction to F1 - and his partnership with Ferrari has been a very positive experience.
"I'm ecstatic," Haas said. "It's kind of a record-making start, but hopefully we'll do better."
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