Magnussen and Grosjean battle to double points for Haas

After enduing a tough time last week in Malaysia, Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean put in a battling performance in Suzuka with both cars finishing in the top ten in the Japanese Grand Prix.

"It's a great result for the team!" enthused team principal Guenther Steiner. "It's our second time with two cars in the points. Both drivers drove a great race. It was flawless.

"It's the best we can do and we did it. I'm very proud of everybody!"

The drivers started the race in 12th and 13th positions respectively, with Magnussen tangling with Lance Stroll on the opening lap. While the Williams was forced to pit for repairs, Magnussen's car was unaffected and he was soon into tenth place.

After making their pit stops, the pair once again moved their way forward. Magnussen forced his way past the second Williams of Felipe Massa on lap 41 to clinch eighth place at the finish, with Grosjean close behind.

"I enjoyed my race," reported Magnussen. "We maximized our potential as a team getting P8 and P9 and scoring points.

"I don't think we could've hoped for better, so I'm happy for us."

The Dane added that he felt this was proof that the team had been improving and finding its form in recent races, even if the results hadn't borne that out until now.

"I feel I've had some good races lately, but just haven't had that bit of luck that I needed to get the points," he said. "Today, it worked out.

"Hopefully, I can keep this going and score more points over the last bit of the season," he added. "Results like today are definitely not easy to get. You need to get everything right, and I think we did today."

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"It's our second double-score for the team, so that's pretty awesome," picked up Grosjean. "I'm very happy for the team.

"I couldn't show it as I was always behind Kevin all race long, but I had much more pace in the car. I wish I could've been ahead - I think I could've fought with the Force Indias, so that's pretty good."

Asked about what had been behind the day's success, Grosjean put it down to the team's tyre strategy.

"We figured out how to get the tyres to work a little bit better," he said. "It's clearly the key. When they work, it's so much faster. When they don't, you just struggle.

"We still need to improve that, but I felt much better in the car. I was happy with the brakes, everything went well."

The Haas team's revival couldn't come at a better point on the season, as they head to their home race in the United States in two weeks time.

"It's going to be great heading to Austin now for our second race there," said Grosjean. "It's such a cool track. I'm looking forward to seeing all the fans welcoming us. And hopefully getting some more points there, as well."

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