Championship Success Envisioned for “Underdog” Haas as Guenther Steiner Successfully Lures Sponsors

Frederic Vasseur suggested that F1 needs American drivers more than American teams if they want to succeed in the US. Haas has been the only American team on the grid for a long time with Andretti looking like a close possibility of becoming the second. Haas has failed to make the mark that it envisioned when it came into F1. However, the “Underdog” is believed to be on the right path as Team Principal Guenther Steiner lures in the sponsors. 

Haas joined F1 as a constructor at the start of the 2016 season. While the team hasn’t been a complete failure like the HRTs, it hasn’t impressed anyone either. Apart from the 2018 season, when the team finished P5 in constructors, Haas has usually finished in the bottom half. Along the way, the team has had a troubled history with sponsors like Rich Energy. 

Regardless, all that is in the past now as Guenther Steiner and Co. look forward to making the upcoming year a success. Toward the end of the 2022 season, Haas announced MoneyGram as its title sponsor from 2023 onwards. The deal is believed to be worth $20 Million a year. MoneyGram came in as a much-needed title sponsor given Haas’s history with sponsors, including Urakali. 

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MoneyGram’s role in helping Haas succeed was explained in the latest episode of Sky Sports F1 podcast. The host said, “The key for me with Haas is that they’ve also now got a long-term partnership with the title sponsor. There’s money coming into that team now. That isn’t Gene Haas or Nikita Mazepin linked. And that title sponsor deal should allow them the freedom to pursue more upgrades and to have a bit more of a technical budget. But also, with it comes pressure. I’m sure that sponsor would want to see a bit more success on track.”

Explaining how Haas succeeding as underdogs will help the sponsor, he added, “They’re a very marketable asset. They are the underdogs fighting against the big dogs, Haas. And Guenther is very good at laying down that narrative.” The World of F1 is such that surviving without sponsors is next to impossible. Let’s see what MoneyGram thinks of F1 and Haas sponsorship.

MoneyGram’s Chief Marketing Officer elaborates on the Haas sponsorship

The F1 car of the current era is essentially a huge billboard for the sponsors. With F1 talking about reducing the dimensions of the cars for 2026, it’s difficult for us to imagine a team like McLaren being able to fit all the sponsors on their future cars. Regardless, MoneyGram’s CMO, Greg Hall recently elaborated on why they chose Haas and F1 for the sponsorship deal. 

According to Forbes, the Chief Marketing Officer said, “We looked across many different sponsorship opportunities and F1 really stood out. F1 is known for innovation, technology, speed and safety – all attributes central to our business. F1 was also growing exponentially in popularity, reaching a younger tech-savvy demo and the 20 countries where races are held annually represent 70% of our global revenue.”

Coming to Haas he added, “By entering the world of F1 and partnering with the now MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, we leaned even further into both the global nature of our business with F1’s global fanbase, as well as our company’s digital evolution and focus on innovation with F1’s legacy as the most technologically advanced motorsport.”

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