Haas seeing 'good interest' from potential sponsors – Steiner

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says the US outfit is attracting some "good interest" from potential sponsors to replace the funding previously bought to the team by Uralkali.

Haas severed ties with its Russian title partner and its driver, Nikita Mazepin, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

While the US outfit had little choice but to terminate its partnership with Uralkali in light of the wave of sanctions levied upon Russia, the fertilizer giant's ousting has left Haas with a financial shortfall estimated at around $10 million.

Team owner Gene Haas is reportedly increasing his company's contribution while Steiner is tapping the sponsorship market once again.

"There is good interest at the moment, I must say, and I don’t know what it has to do with," the Italian told Motorsport.com. "I’m not promising anything.

"I think with the sponsorship, we started a little bit late in actually trying to get some actively from the beginning. That’s my opinion about it. But I think now we will make progress.

"I’m very confident. And also, again, showing people that now we want to come back and people know where we were. So I think we have got a good chance."

• Read also: Magnussen feeling 'some sort of vibe going on' at Haas

Haas' new generation VF-22 performed well in pre-season testing last week in Bahrain in the hands of F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen and teammate Mick Schumacher, but reliability concerns remain.

As the team's profile rises, searching for new partners in its home country would seem like a no-brainer. But Steiner says that attracting new sponsors from the US isn't as easy as it seems.

"It is just difficult in America to get this big sponsorship in the moment," he said. "But it’s not only difficult in for Formula 1.

"If you look also in the racing series in the States, there is sponsorship, but not a really big one.

"In NASCAR, in the old days, one car was running the full livery a full year. And there are not many cars doing that in the moment, because it’s just a lot of money."

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