Guenther Steiner admits there was a “big chance” Haas would have had to quit Formula 1 du♈e to the financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic as he labelled surviving 2ඣ020 as the team’s biggest achievement.

The coronavirus outbreak heavily delayed the start🌼 of this year’s F1 world championship and resulted in൲ a big hit to the teams’ earnings due to a severe loss in revenue usually received from race promoters and broadcasters.

Haas owner Gene Haas had been weighing up the US outfit’s future in F1 prior to the pandemic and had the opportunity to pull out at the end of the year, but a series of cost-saving measures and the prospect of new regulations aimed at creating fairer competition ultimately prompted him t🤪o sign the new Concorde deal to commit to the sport.

On-track, Haas has endured a disappointing season and lies ninth in the constructors’ championship having scored just three points fꩵrom💃 14 races. It is five points adrift of Alfa Romeo heading into the final three rounds of the disrupted 2020 season.

“What have we done right? We survived, that's wha📖t we have done right,” St✅einer said when he addressed the media ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

"I think I'll leave it at that one. I think ꧃there was a big chance that we are not here anymore, and I think everybody pulled together, and we are here to stay.

"All-in-all, mꦐaybe we haven't been good at the track this year, but I think we have been good for the futu𒀰re of Haas F1, and also for F1.

"As mu🅰ch as we think they don't need us, I think F1 needs pe🅠ople or teams like Haas F1.”

Despite admitti🎐ng he was “not unhappy” that a gruelling season was soon coming to an end, Steiner praise🌃d F1’s achievement of managing to organise a 17-round world championship against the odds.

"It was amazing that t🔯hey p🦄ulled this one off," Steiner explained.

"After Australia it seemed this thing will be over pretty soon, and it wasn't, it kept running on, and every day was a new day of bad 🅺🐎news.

"So I thin༺k to pull off 17 races it's great that FOM got it done, but it's the same to be sai🅷d about the teams that got it done, all of the 10 teams.

"It's difficult to explain, but after Australia, we were not aware of what was coming. We were thinking this will be over p𓆏retty soon, and it wasn't. I think they did the right things.

"We had a very interesting season on a sporting level, everything was good, except we didn't have spectators there, and♊ 🦋we don't have the income.

"We kept the sport going. I wouldn't say [it was] a gౠood year, but it wasn't a ba🐟d year, it could have been a lot worse.

"I think it was a great job from all the people at FOM 🍨to get all these races in."

A🌸fte𓂃r deciding to axe both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen at the end of the season, Haas is expected to sign Formula 2 frontrunners Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin for 2021.

Steine൩r insisted that an announcement regarding its driver line-up for next season would be made "soon"ꦗ.