Romain Grosjean delivered their third scoring finish in four races
and again it came after the Frenchman started way down the grid.
"I think we are kind of between Earth and the Moon right now," team
owner Gene Haas told Reuters as he considered another job well done.
"Any day that you get points, that's a great day. We're very happy
with what we did. I think Romain did a great job of maintaining his
position in the last 20 or so laps.
"He's scored points three-quarters of the time."
Grosjean, who joined from the financially-stricken former Lotus team
that is now Renault, was eighth in Sochi after starting 15th on a
one-stop strategy.
He was sixth in Australia, where he qualified 19th on the team's
debut, and then took fifth in Bahrain from ninth on the grid.
In China, the race before Sochi, the Frenchman had struggled home in
19th place with Mexican team mate Esteban Gutierrez 14th and there
was talk of a reality check for the Ferrari-powered newcomers.
Haas said the team, riding high in fifth position overall, had no
illusions about the task ahead but there was also plenty to be
optimistic about over the next 17 races.
"We have a lot left in the car to develop so there's a lot of
positives, that's for sure," he explained.
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"I think it's going to get harder. I think the other teams look more
competitive. The time gaps between all the competitors has shrunk so
it's going to be more and more difficult going forward to score
points.
"I'm very excited but also I realize that, boy, this is a tough
sport."
Haas, the first U.S.-owned team in 30 years, have now scored in more
races already than the last all-new outfit, now-departed Toyota, did
in their entire debut season in 2002.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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