The Haas F1 team has admitted that frustration is growing within the squad after Esteban Gutierrez once again narrowly missed out on the points last week at the Singapore Grand Prix.
It's the fifth time this season that Gutierrez has finished in 11th place on the threshold of securing world championship points. His team mate Romain Grosjean - who has been in the top ten four times in Haas' maiden season in Formula One - failed to start the race because of a brake-by-wire issue.
"It’s another 11th place," sighed Haas team boss Guenther Steiner, who admitted he was happy when the Grand Prix weekend was over and that the team could put the event behind them.
"[Singapore] is a beautiful place, it wasn’t very kind to us this weekend," added Steiner. "In the end the good thing is Esteban did a good weekend I would say. He did what he needed to do, he finished 11th again - without points but what can you do? It’s his fifth time finishing 11th I think this year which is pretty consistent.
"I’m almost tired to say that now, but it is what it is. You always want things to be better, but we were fighting out there and ended up 11th. Esteban did a good job all weekend, so fair play to him."
Gutierrez himself sounded frustrated at being so near and yet so far from scoring points.
"It's boring to finish P11," Gutierrez told Autosport magazine. "I don't know how many more I've got in the system, but this consistency shows that we are very close to the points.
"We have to keep fighting, keep motivated," he added. "Every race I feel stronger, I feel better and I enjoy more.
"We just need to keep optimistic and push forward. I’m proud of the crew. They’ve worked really well together. Although it hasn’t been a simple one this weekend, I believe that Malaysia will be better and we’ll have a better understanding of the car, which will help us attack the front."
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