Collaborating with Ferrari is the most direct route for Haas to climb the field, according to owner Gene Haas. Moving forward, the American outfit will work to enhance its relationship with the Maranello-based team.
Partnerships between teams are well-established in F1 history. Over recent weeks, the tightening of relations between AlphaTauri and Red Bull has sparked reaction across the field.
The reigning Champions have been perfectly transparent about expanding ties with their sister team. To some extent, this has diverted attention away from the ties between Haas and Ferrari.
Since officially making their F1 debut in 2016, the alliance between Haas and their supplier has been critical for the US squad’s success.
This agreement was very fruitful for the US squad in its first campaigns. From 2016 to 2018, Guenther Steiner’s personnel were consistently a top 8 team.
Although they benefited from the likes of McLaren and Williams suffering from financial issues, their competitiveness was still impressive.
Unfortunately for Haas, the situation has continued to worsen in recent seasons. Nikita Mazepin’s arrival was clear proof of the team’s financial troubles, whilst performance has continually underwhelmed.
Moving forward, Gene Haas has a clear strategy for how to remedy the situation:
“I think the competition is going to be very intense, so having a partner like Ferrari is going to be very important.
“We’re very happy to stay with Ferrari. I hope we can help them in terms of reliability.
“Going forward, when Sauber drops Ferrari power, we would be Ferrari’s only user. They might want to pick up a customer or two. Maybe they’ll be happy with us.
“But we have got to do better. We can’t be running so far behind Ferrari. We need to be closer to them.”
In the foreseeable future, Haas will rely on its partnership with Ferrari to facilitate its progression. However, this philosophy could be flawed
The only other outfit operating in a similar fashion is AlphaTauri, and most would argue their Red Bull links offer them a substantial advantage.
The Faenza-based team has also proven it can develop rapidly mid-season. Last year showed glimpses of their capacity to introduce updates during a season.
It is now common knowledge that their American counterparts do not share this capacity. Regardless, Gene Haas is betting on Ferrari improving its performance to propel his own team up the grid.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
