Steiner dreams of "lucky" Haas podium in 2019

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner is conscious his team isn't capable of putting one of the cars on the podium, but he still hopes they can achieve the feat with a large slice of luck.

Podium appearances are very rare for teams outside of the top three teams of Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull Racing. It's happened two times in the last two seasons - Sergio Perez at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Force India, and Lance Stroll in 2017 for Williams at the same venue. This is a big issue in F1 and the FOM and Liberty Media are doing their best to close the gap between the top and the midfield, but for now, it will likely remain for a team like Haas to stand on the podium.

“That is a dream. If we could make it that would be nice," Steiner told Crash.net when discussing a potential podium finish. The American team got very close in Austria last season, as they finished fourth and fifth - the best finish in team history. 

“I would say last year in Baku without the accident we could have got close to it. So hopefully it is our season. So last year luck was not a lot on our side. 

“Maybe it turns and we get lucky. But if everything goes normal nobody can reach the podium except for the top three teams. 

“Sometimes there are things happening in a race where you can make it, and if you are there and about after the three big teams, you can pick it up. 

“But you need to be there all the time. You need to be consistently in that fourth spot as a team to get to the podium.”