“There is that risk”- Haas admits risk in abandoning development

“There is that risk”- Haas admits that there is a huge risk of falling in the grid order in abandoning the car development in 2021.

Haas has decided to halt the development of this year’s VF21 after the first test in Bahrain, switching their focus on 2022’s car. But Guenther Steiner has also admitted the risk of finishing last.

“Yeah, there is that risk, but we need to live with that risk,” Steiner told Motorsport.com. “We need to see the big picture is the mid-to-long-term; it’s not short-term.

“If we see the short term, then in ’22 it will be, ‘Why didn’t we do the ’22 car? Because now we cannot catch up.’ It’s tough to catch up with the aero restrictions and the budget cap. So you put as much in as you can on the front end.”

Steiner says that his team is prepared for a difficult year, as it also going to present an all-rookie lineup: “It will be quite a challenging season in the future, we know about that.

“We’ve braced ourselves for it. We’ll do as much as we can for this year for the mid-term, compromise the short term for the gains on the mid-to long term. That’s our plan at the moment.”

The main aim is to prepare the rookies.

Steiner has revealed his objectives for 2021 are to develop the rookies- Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. The duo has just graduated from F2 this season.

“Damage control, trying to do the best,” he said. “For me, success would be to get two drivers prepared for the future by the end of the year. That will be a success that we learn, so in ’22, we don’t have any issues anymore, where we say these are rookie drivers, and they still need to learn.

“They learn for a year, and I think it is a good opportunity because the pressure will not be as high as when you have a good car. So I think our ambitions are realistic.

“We want to do the best we can. Hopefully, we can get some points now and then. But it will be tough – and we are braced for it.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More