The head of the Haas F1 team, Guenther Steiner, has promised that he will not spend money on ‘other things’ and will invest ‘only in the car’.
The Haas F1 team has announced a new color to be adopted for the 2023 “VF-23” F1 machine. It has changed from white until last year to a black-based machine sponsored by MoneyGram.
MoneyGram, the third title sponsor of the Haas F1 Team in its short F1 history, had previously partnered with Rich Energy and Uralkali, both of which did not turn out well.
The Haas F1 team was in financial trouble as a result, but Gunther Steiner says it wasn’t as bad as people say.
“I would say we were never in a bad place,” Gunther Steiner told Autosport when asked if the arrival of MoneyGram put the team in better shape.
“2020 was not an easy situation because of the pandemic, but I think it is. It puts us in a very strong position.”
The situation is also boosted by the introduction of a budget cap, limiting spending to $135 million this season.
“Best one or not?” Gunther Steiner continued. “I think in the beginning we were very solid in everything.”
“There was no budget cap when we joined in 2016, so it was much lower than other teams, even if they were in good financial shape.”
“But now we are very competitive financially compared to others. Competitive, we are on the same level.”
But just because the books are better than ever doesn’t mean the Haas F1 team will suddenly start pouring money into infrastructure updates.
“I want to invest that money in cars,” said Gunther Steiner.
“Right now, we’re investing everything we have into the car. There’s nothing we want to do outside at the moment. I want to do nothing else.”
“We’re not looking elsewhere, we’re not saying, ‘We want to do this.'”
“Establish what you are doing now, and if you want to change something, change it later.
“For now, we stick to this model and do the best we can. You can do it from scratch, but it won’t be possible immediately.”
The Haas F1 Team, who finished eighth last season, two points behind Alpha Tauri, are looking to do even better this season. Team owner Gene Haas is confident that Kevin Magnussen and new teammate Nico Hulkenberg have drivers who can score points on any Sunday.
“It is clear that the target for the 2023 season is to score points more consistently and I am confident that we have an experienced driver duo who can score points on Sunday in Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.”
But for any driver, scoring points is very dependent on the car they are given.
Haas got off to a good start last season, with Magnussen winning three of the first four races. But then it dropped.
Haas did not make any major changes to the machine at the start of the season, but managed to score consecutive double points in the Austrian and British races.
However, despite introducing one major upgrade package at F1’s Hungarian Grand Prix, it failed to live up to expectations, scoring just one point in the second half of the championship.
Mick Schumacher had a series of collisions in an attempt to push his underperforming car into the points, and was replaced in the off-season by Nico Hulkenberg.
Starting in 2022, Haas will have to admit their mistakes this year and when it comes time to upgrade their car, whether it’s a small update or a big one, they need to make sure they do it.
Category: F1 / A household
