SPIELBERG, Austria -- Romain Grosjean admitted Haas did not think it would have been able to beat a Red Bull ahead of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Grosjean qualified sixth in Austria, beating Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Haas has been easily the fourth fastest car all weekend and Grosjean thought that would remain the same in qualifying.
"Honestly, going into qualifying we thought they were too far ahead," he said. "But luckily in Q2 we only needed one set [of tyres] to go through, which we were not expecting. Then two sets in Q3. I think we were surprised we were capable of beating one of them.
"Race pace is nice from the other day, so we'll see tomorrow."
Team boss Guenther Steiner was relieved to see the team convert its good pace into a strong grid position with both cars.
"It's feels pretty good. We had a wonderful day and we hope we have a wonderful day tomorrow. That's it. Nothing more to add. Keep doing what we are doing and not screwing it up."
However, he downplayed the significance of beating one of the Red Bull cars, saying he is more interested in securing a strong haul of points on Sunday.
Asked if the team's best-case scenarios had it beating a Red Bull at any point, he said: "we said where we should be is seventh and eighth and obviously the top three are in front of us normally. It was not about getting too greedy, we need to deliver seventh and eighth.
"That is what is possible if we do our job where we are. There's no point all of a sudden getting excited about things, we need to have a drama free weekend and stabilise things, then next time we can take a risk."
Grosjean is yet to score a point this season after a string of errors and misfortune through the season, but Steiner thinks Saturday's performance can trigger a turnaround.
"I think it's important, sure, after a streak like he had, I think it was 12 races without points. It's a long time for him. He still hasn't got points but to make a qualifying like this.
"In Paul Ricard we were in the same position last week but we were 10th and Kevin got held up by Kimi and ended up ninth and 10th. The race was not fantastic to be honest so I think the car tomorrow will be OK. I think its very important for him to have shown he can deliver. I think he will sleep well tonight and he deserves it."