Haas progress genuine despite Japanese GP letdown

Haas, which has been in the points four times this season with Romain Grosjean - most recently in Austria - qualified eighth with Grosjean and 10th with Esteban Gutierrez at Suzuka, making it the first time both of its cars appeared in Q3.

But both drivers fell out of the points in the race, Grosjean recording Haas' seventh 11th-place finish of the campaign.

Speaking after the race, Steiner suggested the blow of leaving Suzuka without points was softened by the fact the team had shown progress leading up to and throughout the weekend.

"The encouraging thing is what we know what the car can do," Steiner said.

"Seven times 11th, it's not a great feeling, but the good thing is - we know we can do it. If you look at it, the five good teams were in front of us with two cars, nobody drops out, it [the outcome] is logical.

"We took the fight to the Williams, we couldn't pull it off because they had an advantage in picking their advantage with strategy.

"It's bittersweet, but the encouraging thing is, we're getting better. We're not stagnating - already, staying the same for us would be a good point to be, but we're getting better."

Malaysia recovery

The Suzuka race was a week on after the Malaysian Grand Prix, which had turned disastrous for Haas when Grosjean exited through brake disc failure and Gutierrez retired after a losing a wheel.

"Our plate was full after Malaysia, to sort out the problems we had and also try to make the car quicker, to get a better set-up," Steiner said.

"I think, everybody worked hard and we achieved a lot in a very short time. That shows, for me, how the team's getting better - and after Malaysia, [where] everything went wrong which could go wrong, we had so many broken parts, the guys here were well-prepared, we were ready to go again.

"We are getting more efficient in how we do things and better prepared. And you cannot have this without time - to make experience takes time and the only thing you cannot buy is time. So I think we've made great progress. As long as we make progress, we're happy."

Q3 pace legitimate

Haas' double appearance in Q3 at Suzuka was only the second time the American team was at all present in the final segment of qualifying.

And while Steiner conceded the track favoured the Haas VF-16, he said the qualifying result was a legitimate indicator of the team's pace at high-speed venues.

"I think [Q3 double] was our genuine potential with the new front wing," Steiner said.

"The track favoured us - in Spa, Monza we were pretty good, and this is pretty high-speed, we are not this good in slower tracks."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble