F1 News: Guenther Steiner Opens Up On Real Reason Behind Haas Exit - "Pushed For Long Time"
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner revealed the real reason for his shock exit from the American team. Admitting that the team followed the same old model of looking up to Ferrari for its car's development, which didn't continue to serve the purpose after the introduction of the cost cap rule, Steiner explained the feeling of remaining in the same place while he witnessed other teams develop rapidly.
Haas lagged in several areas, according to Steiner. Last year, the team ended at the bottom of the Constructors' Championship, a reason why Gene Haas decided to bring in a more technical person for the role of team boss. Thus, trackside engineering director Ayao Komatsu was promoted to the key role, while Steiner, who had been with the team for nearly a decade, was relieved of his duties.
Haas F1 Press Image
Haas established a strategic alliance with Ferrari, leveraging their relationship to procure transferable parts from the Red team under permissible FIA regulations. This collaboration even extended to setting up a base in Maranello to facilitate closer cooperation. However, while Haas pursued this approach, several midfield teams surged ahead, leaving Haas lagging behind in their quest for competitiveness.
Steiner admitted that a lack of investment in infrastructure has been pulling Haas behind, while Williams made substantial investments in infrastructure, and Aston Martin inaugurated a state-of-the-art factory recently.
Speaking to Autosport, Steiner revealed:
“I’ve never been in a company this long as I was in Haas F1, think about that – at some stage [the long-term future gets considered].
“You know, doing more of the same and seeing what other people do to move forwards. Like all the other teams – like AlphaTauri, Aston Martin – you see where they are going and you cannot go with them, it’s difficult to stay motivated.
“You always try because you never give up. You try – but at some stage obviously it becomes clear that… it becomes more clear when you are gone, because you are not in the whirlwind anymore. You are outside and you look in and you say, ‘wow, I pushed for a long time, seeing where other people are going’ since [the budget cap in for 2021].
“Formula 1 has changed since the budget cap came in place. The reaction of people was like, ‘you need to think different; you need to invest in your infrastructure to get the best out of your operational budget’. You just need to be very efficient, you need to put the money in, setting everything up that you’ve got a very lean machine.
“You always push to do that. Because I think our [transferrable parts purchasing] concept was very good when we started, but then when the budget cap came it just changed a little bit. And our model is maybe not the most efficient anymore. Well, not our model, their model – because I’m not there anymore.”
