Does a model like Haas’ still belong in today’s Formula 1? That’s why questions are currently revolving around once again after the racing team managed to score solid points in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in 2022 and to get into Q3 in each case after being hopelessly inferior the previous year.
The fact that the 2021 season was basically written off before the first race certainly helped the team. Even more important was probably the support from Ferrari, who not only seconded important personnel to Haas, but also left many components to the team.
This has earned Haas a reputation as a B-Ferrari in recent years, but the racing team only does what is permitted in the regulations: there is a precise list of which components can be taken over from other teams and which ones you have to make yourself. What was formerly known as “Listed Parts” is now divided into four distinct categories.
Haas makes full use of the leeway and manufactures as little as possible itself. Anything you can transfer, you get from Ferrari. But not all opponents like it. McLaren in particular is clearly in favor of each team developing 100 percent its own parts.
“For us it is clear that Formula 1 should be a championship of ten – or eleven or twelve – constructors. This means that there should be no transfer of intellectual property related to core performance,” says team boss Andreas Seidl.
Steiner: Luckily, Andreas doesn’t run the FIA
At most, the power unit and internal transmission components should be able to be obtained from other manufacturers, but no more. That, emphasizes Seidl, has nothing to do with the current sporting situation. “It has been a principle for us for many years.”
Haas team boss Günther Steiner naturally does not like McLaren’s request: “Fortunately, Andreas is not leading the FIA,” he replies. “He can suggest that, but there is a management that defines it,” said the South Tyrolean, who can’t do anything with the constant suggestions for change.
“Sometimes the rules are like this: If you don’t like it, you can’t just change them,” says Steiner. “Some people think they can change everything just by speaking out. But that’s not going to happen.”
Seidl: Wind tunnel sharing also has to go
However, Seidl would even go one step further: he would not only prevent data transfer, but also the shared use of infrastructure such as wind tunnels. “Because as soon as you allow that, there will also be a transfer of intellectual property from one car to another,” said the German.
This is prevented by the rules, but Seidl has his doubts as to whether it can always be monitored 100 percent. “And if you can’t monitor something, then you have to ban it,” says the McLaren team boss.
“And there are two reasons for that: it makes B teams over-competitive compared to teams like us, and at the same time the A teams also benefit, which is even more concerning for us,” said Seidl.
Toto Wolff: Discussions for Formula 1 not necessary
Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff also noticed Haas’ “interesting jump”, who in the first two races of the season were almost on par with the former dominator.
“For us it’s a learning process because we have 2000 employees as an organization and have had success in the past and suddenly you’re fighting against a team that is much smaller,” says Wolff. “So you must have done a great job.”
At the same time, however, the Austrian also finds that the current rules “need reform, because we want to avoid discussions like the current one and the polemics about it”.
“Everyone deserves to do well, and people should be recognized when they do a good job,” he says. “But some job hopping or entity hopping just creates discussions that aren’t necessary for the sport.”
The Mercedes boss also speaks from his own experience, because Mercedes was involved in such discussions in 2020 when it came to whether Racing Point had left intellectual property because the customer team’s car was said to be almost an exact copy of the previous year’s Mercedes . The Aston Martin predecessor was even deducted 15 points in the world championship.
AlphaTauri: own wind tunnel waste of money
But there are also arguments in favor of sharing facilities. “If every team has to have its own wind tunnel, that would be a total waste of money and would not fit with the topic of sustainability,” says AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost, who shares the facilities with sister team Red Bull.
“A wind tunnel uses a lot of energy for the limited number of hours you’re allowed to spend there,” he says, bearing in mind the increasingly restricted aerodynamic tests. While the wind tunnels used to run around the clock, you now only have a certain quota available – depending on your position in the Constructors’ Championship.
Tost emphasizes: “We share a wind tunnel with Red Bull, but there is absolutely no exchange of technical information. Nothing. We are there for three days: Saturday, Sunday, Monday – and Red Bull is there on the other days. Nothing more. We follow the rules and if someone doesn’t believe that, they should just send us the FIA. No problem. We can prove that we comply with everything.”
Controversial question: Can everything be controlled?
Still, some teams are skeptical. Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer recently expressed his concerns about the wind tunnel model and said that you cannot control when the engineers of two teams meet in the coffee kitchen and exchange the results.
“In an ideal world, the rules are pretty clear,” Szafnauer adds. “The difficulty is just monitoring that. And if that’s impossible, then we should change the rules so that it’s possible and the conditions are the same for everyone. Maybe the rules can be reformed so that they can be monitored. “
Another point of contention in this regard was the transfer of personnel from one team to another. For example, Haas not only benefits from the numerous vehicle parts from Ferrari, but also from the Ferrari know-how of Simone Resta, who was seconded by Scuderia to help Haas.
According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, this is a home-made problem that stems from the budget limit that was introduced. “The big teams had to shrink. We had to say goodbye to almost 100 employees,” he says. “But the FIA cannot dictate where someone is allowed to work and where not.”
Budget limit causes staff turnover
It is therefore only logical for him that Franz Tost was his first port of call to let him know that Red Bull had to part ways with some long-time employees and to ask if he was interested.
“Of course, you can’t take any intellectual property with you, because that would be against the rules,” says Horner. “You can’t take a piece of paper or physical data with you, but what’s in your head. And of course that’s difficult for the FIA to monitor. But I think the balance on these things is pretty reasonable.”
Nevertheless, the discussions should continue, because the FIA teams currently have to trust that everything stays within the regulations. “It’s okay for me,” says Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur, who doesn’t think the rules need to be adjusted.
Andreas Seidl, on the other hand, still hopes that the topic will move again: “We hope that in the whole dialogue with Formula 1, the FIA and some teams in the coming years we will finally see a few measures to correct the situation “, he says.