Haas F1 was conceived back in 2014 and joined the grid for the start of the 2016 season. At the time Formula One was reeling from the loss of the three new teams who were formed in 2010 filling slots vacated by Japanese manufacturers Honda and Toyota.

Formula One was not in the rude health it is now and the Concorde agreement at the time meant not all the 12 teams even received prize money. Clearly this was a big part of why the new teams failed to survive the long haul and so Haas F1 was conceived to operate on a different model.

 

 

 

Haas unique F1 model

The relationship with Ferrari created by Gene Haas saw the team outsource the design and build of as many components allowed in the FIA regulations. The chassis too was built by Italian manufacturer Dellara which meant investment required in high technological plant and machinery was greatly limited.

Yet the era when Haas F1 was born is now a distant memory as teams have grown stronger, investing more and more in their production capabilities. Whilst Haas is part of the four smaller teams who have been allowed extra capital spend to catch up in terms of their facilities, Gene has shown no intention in doing so.

Estimates have suggested that Haas is currently somewhere between $50-100million short of reaching F1’s limit on capital expenditure (covering spending on facilities and infrastructure between 2021-29).

Williams are spending the extra allowance on modernising their Grove facilities and Sauber are set to get a huge cash injection from Audi. AlphaTauri are to be reborn with their move to England and greater collaboration with Red Bull, yet Gene Haas appears to be ploughing on with the model that saw the team finish in their highest place of 5th in 2018.

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Gene Haas blames lack of “efficiency”

In his interview explaining the reasons why Guenther Steiner was sacked, the American billionaire talked of needing to improve “efficiency” rather than greater spending.

“We need to be efficient with the resources we have but improving our design and engineering capability is key to our success as a team,” said Gene Haas. “I’m looking forward to working with Ayao [Komatsu, Steiner’s replacement] and fundamentally ensuring that we maximize our potential – this truly reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1.”

Steiner has become the fall guy for Haas F1 coming plumb last in 2023 despite replacing their inexperienced Mick Schumacher with Nico Hulkneberg. Yet its hardly surprising since their zenith in 2018, the American owned team has finished either in P9 or P10 with the exception of 2022 when the new regulations nobbled some of their rivals.

Scheduled to speak at the Autosport show this weekend, Guenther Steiner kept the appointment and used it as an opportunity to speak for the first time since his dismissal. When baited to respond to Gene Haas comments claiming he was “embarrassed” over the performance of his team this year, Steiner refused to counter punch.

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Steiner refuses to take the bait

“If he feels like this, it’s his feeling and he can say it,” said Steiner. “Nobody’s proud at the team to be 10th. We didn’t have a good season in ’23, we all know that, but in my opinion when you’re down it’s not [about] how you got down it’s how you get up again.”

Yet there are glimpses in Steiner’s words which demonstrate there was a difference in opinion over how the team can improve. Haas talked about Guenther’s replacement Ayao Komatsu talking about how that could help improve “performance.”

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Guenther now questions relevance of Haas F1 model

Steiner however is clear that the world of Formula One is markedly different from when the Haas F1 team was conceived.

“Since we had this model 10 years ago when we started, Formula 1 has changed a lot,” he said. “You guys have seen how much Formula 1 changed after the COVID period, how much it grew, how much bigger it got, how much different it got; how we use the budget cap to get ideas on how to do things,” said the Italian.

“If you look at all the other teams, they are all gearing up [to be bigger entities] – or they are not gearing up now, they started to gear up; some two years ago, some three years ago, some last year.”

The much discussed cost cap only relates to certain aspects of Formula One Racing and the Capital Expenditure Cap set until 2029 has exemptions for the four smaller teams to catch up with the quality of their facilities. Guenther appears to suggests the other nine teams are taking advantage of these opportunities, while Haas F1 is falling behind.

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Haas bottom of F1 investment league

“Everybody is getting stronger, investing a lot in the future because Formula 1 I think is on a very good path with where it is going at the moment and that’s what is needed to do to stay competitive. I don’t know Gene Haas’s plans for the future; as I said before, he didn’t share them with me – he doesn’t have to, by the way. I want to make that clear as well.

“On the other side, I see where other people are going and the model we started with at the beginning I think was a very good model, but maybe it’s not time-relevant anymore. But who am I to say that?”

Gene Haas attempted to push back against the notion that his team spends far less than their competition. He stated Haas F1 is “usually within $10million” of F1’s $135m cost cap.

Of course Haas have lost $20m in prize money for 2023 when compared to their P8 finishing slot there previous year and given Haas model the team will not be spending the $20m incremental allowance for the bottom four sides to improve their production facilities.

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Guenther questions Gene Haas perception

Steiner makes the point that measuring spend merely by the shortfall to the cost cap is not how other F1 teams are operating.

“You need to invest outside of the cost cap to get the best out of the operational cost cap,” Steiner argued. “I wouldn’t say it’s very complex, but you need to think about really, the operational cost cap money, how can you get the most out of it to make the car go quicker?

“That is normally because you’ve invested in something to do that. That needs to be done, and I think a lot of people picked up on that years ago and started to invest in how to be efficient by spending money in capital investment and then getting [the] operational [expenditure] to be more efficient.”

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Haas F1 unlikely to progress much

Gene Haas has merely re-arranging the deck chairs on his sicking ship by sacking Guenther Steiner and now it is the responsibility of Ayao Komatsu to eek out the meagre budget Haas provides to his team.

What is certain is Steiner and his larger than life personality will not be short of offers within Formula One, though the likeable Italian makes clear; “Just being in Formula 1 to just do a job, maybe it’s not what I want to do,” he said.

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