“He’s spent the first few weeks getting himself accustomed” – Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner has revealed former Ferrari Simone Resta’s plan for this season, and next.
To cut costs, Ferrari transferred their Head of Chassis Engineering Simone Resta to customer team Haas. This is a drastic move, from a giant to a low-budget outfit, something Guenther Steiner acknowledges.
Steiner says Resta is still understanding the mode of operations in the American team. Resta has also almost completed his work on the 2021 car, and will soon shift to working on the 2022 one.
“He’s spent the first few weeks getting himself accustomed with what we are doing. He has got involved in this year’s car. There were some design changes because of the regulation changes but now, 80% of his time is focused on 2022 and by the end of February it will be 99% focused on ’22.”
Guenther Steiner provides an update on Haas 2021 chances
Guenther Steiner also spoke about the realistic ambitions of their team, which had a disappointing outing in 2020. With the regs almost remaining the same, much of the same is expected. The silver lining could potentially be the aforementioned signing of Resta from Ferrari, and what he brings to the table.
“We are preparing to be better but I don’t know what the reality will be. We know it could be tough but we will manage it. That’s one of the reasons we took two rookie drivers – this is a transition year and we plan for better days in 2022.
“We are bracing ourselves for a tough year. You always work to get the best out of it that you can, but you also need to be realistic and not dream that all of a sudden everything will be good.”
