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Haas F1 enter their second year of racing in Formula 1 and after a successful year in 2016, grabbing 29 points, they jumped off the marks last time out in China as Kevin Magnussen drove to an eighth place finish.
The American outfit entered the sport in a much different way, assembling parts from Ferrari. Although it isn't illegal and against the rules, rivals of the team such as Williams and Sauber were vocally against the method.
After the recent disappearances of Caterham and Manor under the new regulations, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner knew that they had to try something different, in order to make sure their project wasn't a failure.
“It is a model that other people can look into”, the Italian said to Mobil 1 The Grid. “We looked at how it didn’t work with the other new teams that went away. We said [that] we needed to try to do something different so we don’t fail. Why be stubborn and say we have to get it to work [as a full constructor]?
"The other people that failed were not stupid – it’s just too difficult, this sport, and very technologically advanced. Maybe someone will come along with a better model than ours, but this works for us.”
Much of Haas' 2016 season was overshadowed by brake issues, with race after race of problem reporting: “It’s a very complex subject with getting the right material and, of course, we have the change in regulations with the bigger brakes this year, so supply is limited.”
Some experts, including three-time world champion Jackie Stewart, has said that a team's second year in Formula 1 is tougher than their first as they must split resources into two sections - going racing and developing the car. However, Steiner said that they were always planning ahead.
“We always planned for the second year, so it wasn’t a surprise”, he said. “We always communicated that we weren’t doing any updates with the 2016 car – OK, we did a small one, with the front wing – but we were very clear not to bite off more than we could chew.
“We were better off concentrating on next year [2017] and get everything lined up so that we [will] bring upgrades through the year, as they will be worth much more. We all started this year, the first year of new regulations, with an immature car, so every upgrade will be worth much more than when we had stable regulations for 4-5 years.”
While much of the talk of teams this year has been about Mercedes and Ferrari, one thing that has been very noticeable is how close the midfield are: “The midfield is so close together that the difference between being 8th or 14th is so tight. It depends on the weekend, the track, the form of the driver… so many factors with 4 teams being so close.”
Fergal Walsh
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