Günther Steiner says that comments from rival Formula 1 teams about Haas and his relationship with Ferrari at the start of 2022 felt like a “broken record”.
Haas has had a technical partnership with Ferrari since entering Formula 1 in 2016 and, as permitted by the regulations, is taking on a number of listed parts. The American team has always stressed that the door is open to an FIA review if there are genuine concerns about the relationship, although no formal complaint has ever been made.
Looking at comments from other teams, Haas team boss Steiner says that after years of questioning about the relationship with Ferrari, “we’ve gotten used to it.” “If you’re good, you’re a copycat, if you’re bad, nobody cares,” says Steiner.
“It’s like, ‘okay, spread the word, we’ve heard that before.’ It’s a broken record. It does not bother me. I don’t care at all,” he adds.
After a difficult 2021 in which the team decided against developing the car and didn’t score any points, Haas got off to a flying start in 2022 with Kevin Magnussen finishing fifth in the season opener.
But Haas’ resurgence drew criticism from other teams, including McLaren, who raised concerns about the relationship between the so-called A and B teams in Formula 1.
Although Magnussen’s fifth-place finish in Bahrain was Haas’ best result of 2022, the team enjoyed a largely successful season, finishing eighth in the championship with 37 points. In Brazil, Haas also clinched a surprise pole position, the first in the team’s history, thanks to Magnussen.
Earlier this week, Haas unveiled its new logo and updated official team name for 2023 after adding new title sponsor MoneyGram.
The additional financial boost will keep Haas within budget going forward, and while Steiner says the team “has never been in a bad position,” he emphasizes that the arrival of MoneyGram would put the team on a more even playing field.
“2020 wasn’t an easy position because of the pandemic when it broke out,” Steiner said. “But I think, yeah, that puts us in a very solid position. The best or not? I think in the beginning we were very solid with everything.”
“When we came in in 2016 there was no budget cap, so you’re a lot lower than the other teams even if you’re in a good financial position. But now we are also very competitive financially compared to the others – not competitive, we are equal.”
This article was written by Kevin Hermann, co-author: Luke Smith
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The original of this article “Haas team boss counters B-Team comments from the competition” comes from Motorsport-Total.com.