Owner Gene Haas has said that he is happy the American team are in among the action in a closely-fought midfield in 2017.

Winter rumours suggested that Haas could actually be fighting backmarkers Sauber and McLaren this year, but Romain Grosjean qualified a 'best of the rest' sixth in Melbourne.

Haas says that the midfield pack is close.

"Two seconds behind the top are five teams within half a second," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

While many expected the Ferrari-linked team to strike Formula 1's typical 'second season syndrome', Haas said that he is happy with the 2017 car.

"It is a car without weaknesses and a very strong engine," Haas said.

"Grosjean complained less about the car than usual in Melbourne. That's a good sign."

The 64-year-old, who also co-owns a Nascar team, also sounds happy in Formula 1, even in the wake of Bernie Ecclestone's departure and the arrival of Liberty Media.

Recently, Ecclestone's successor Chase Carey said that his goal is to make every grand prix like the 'Super Bowl'.

Haas said: "It does not have to be a Super Bowl. But I do think that a grand prix weekend should have more. It should be a festival for the whole family.

"A kind of Oktoberfest with racing."

As for the small Haas operation that works closely with Ferrari and Dallara, meanwhile, Haas says that he is happy to keep the team small in the future.

"We do not want to become too big," he said. "Size means bureaucracy."

Regarding goals for 2017, Haas revealed: "We want to be at the front end of the midfield and score regularly.

"Realistically the first six places are filled by Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. Behind them is the race for seventh to 10th places."

The season continues this weekend with the Chinese Grand Prix.