Haas boss Guenther Steiner says that Mercedes customer teams shouldn't complain about the performance of the their Ferrari-powered rivals, namely the US outfit and Sauber.
Now in its third season of Grand Prix racing, Haas is fighting at the top of F1's midfield, standing currently just 16 points behind the fourth-placed works Renault team.
In addition to a well-balanced chassis, at least on F1's high-speed tracks, Haas also enjoys the benefits of a new-spec Ferrari engine, the Italian power unit now seen as having the edge over Mercedes.
Haas' rivals point to that advantage, but Steiner was quick to remind them that for several years they enjoyed a power gain thanks to Mercedes hybrid technology.
"Mercedes customers shouldn’t complain because they had a very good engine the last four years," Steiner told Motorsport.com.
"The first years of these regulations, if you didn’t have a Mercedes engine, you were nowhere. Now Ferrari has overtaken them and everybody having a Ferrari engine are critiqued – ‘Oh, you’ve got the good engine’.
"Yeah we have. So did you the last four years and you didn’t take advantage of it. So what can I do? I’m very happy. If the other ones are unhappy, I cannot help them."
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