Haas F1 Team Principal Güenther Steiner Announces Disappointing News

Haas are already going through one of their worst seasons in Formula 1. Amidst such a disappointing season, the team has suffered another blow to their development side. Guenther Steiner reveals that the team has shifted their focus to the 2022 season. This means that neither of the Haas’ cars will get an upgrade next season, apart from the minor aerodynamic changes.

Steiner opens up that Haas prioritizes development for the new technical regulations in 2022 rather than the upcoming 2021 season. Hence he sounded convinced that the team will face yet another tough season next year. “A lot of stuff stays the same anyway,” Guenther said.

“So I don’t think there will be a lot of changes because parts you cannot change because it’s homologated, the suspension and things like this. I’m not expecting a miracle for next year.

“We have got to decide: To do a programme which will last for at least five years or a programme which is a maximum of one year, where do you put your investment? You put it in the five years and that is what we are going to do.”

But Steiner also cleared that the team will bring very minor upgrades next season. “For sure, we need to do something for next year. But it won’t be something spectacular because we haven’t got the resources of the big teams which can do a ’22 car and a ’21 car,” Steiner said.

Haas were at one point fighting with the mid-field teams and were scoring good points frequently. But this season has been nothing but disappointing for Haas, as the team has scored just one point out of the ten races.

Haas is also yet to reveal their lineup for the next season with Romain Grosjean in specific looking unlikely to keep his seat.

For Haas, investing in 2021 is like “wasting money”

Guenther Steiner mentioned that spending money on the 2021 car might not be a good idea for Haas, considering the team’s financial struggles over the last couple of years. The pandemic may have made it worse for them.

“I think we were hit very hard this year with the income from FOM, not receiving the full amount. And also the status of the championship. We are only doing 17 races. It takes a little bit of wind out of our sails, a year like this,” said Guenther.

“Putting a big effort in [for 2021] is like wasting money,” Steiner added. “I’d rather keep that money to do the ’22 car.”

The pandemic forced FIA and F1 to postpone the regulation changes by a year from 2021 to 2022. This left the teams in a dilemma about developing their cars would be a good idea or not. Eventually, most of the teams decided against it and started focussing on the 2022 season.