'If you copy, you copy the best, and right now it is Ferrari and Red Bull.'
Marco CanonieroGetty ImagesHaas Formula 1 team principal Gunther Steiner has defended Haas amid claims the updated car revealed in Hungary might aptly be described as a “white Ferrari.”
Kevin Magnussen will be at the wheel of the American team’s long-awaited update this weekend in Budapest, with early photos of the car revealing key visual similarities to engine supplier Ferrari’s 2022 racer. The Haas team only brought one update to Hungary, and that update was given to Magnussen based on his standing in points ahead of teammate Mick Schumacher.
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner looks on today in Hungary.
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Steiner openly admits that Haas was inspired by Ferrari’s aerodynamic concept.
“I would say quite a lot, yes. Is there something wrong with that?” he told European media outlet Ekstra Bladet newspaper.
When asked if he expects to be accused of copying, Steiner said simply, “I expect to be fast. If someone says we copied, I would say ‘Why would we copy a Williams?’ Not to be disrespectful, but it’s a completely different concept and they’re slower than us.
“So if you copy, you copy the best, and right now it is Ferrari and Red Bull. We have the same engine as Ferrari, the same gearbox and we have the same suspension. They win races, so why copy others? One plus one still equals two.”
While Schumacher will be driving the older specification car in Hungary this weekend, Steiner insists it will be useful to compare the old versus new specifications side-by-side.
“I just hope we can see in the data that the car is doing what it’s supposed to do,” Steiner said. “We can put the new and the old car side by side. If the data shows that we made the right choice, then we just need to find the right setup.
“That’s the next step, because we have to use the downforce in the best way possible.”
Charles Leclerc puts the red Ferrari through its practice laps on Friday in Hungary.
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Keyword: Copycats? Haas Unleashes 'White Ferrari' for F1 Hungarian Grand Prix Weekend