Haas: Extra budget will allow for 'extra development'

Haas' improved position last year in F1's Constructors' standings has brought the US outfit additional prize money, and the extra income will allow have a positive impact on the team's development programme.

A tight budget and limited resources weighed heavily on Haas' results between 2019 and 2021, which held down the team in the lower tier of F1's midfield.

However, the introduction of F1's new regulations last year allowed Haas to produce a significantly better car in terms of relative performance. However, the development of the outfit's VF-22 was once again constrained by budgetary concerns.

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner purposefully opted for a single-upgrade strategy in 2022, an approach that brought little to no benefit to the team in the second half of its campaign.

Haas chief designer Andrea de Zordo noted that the team was challenged perhaps more than any other outfit throughout the year to slim down its overweight car.

"Probably for us it was a bigger problem as we didn’t have the possibility to add a lot of development and new parts during the season," admitted de Zordo, quoted by The Race.

Read also:

• Haas: All teams 'in a much better place' regarding porpoising

But a run of 37 points in the 2022 championship, and the extra prize money this brought, went a long way towards improving Haas' top and bottom line, which in turn allow for a more dynamic development schedule.

"It's a big benefit for development," said De Zordo.

"For me this extra budget [allows] for extra development, not only in making more parts but also to have the possibility to do more tests, to speed up the process of understanding some detail and speed up all the process of developing the car."

However, extra monies won't equate to loose spending for Haas which must compose with F1's mandatory budget cap, which now sits at $135 million.

Responsible spending and efficiency are therefore in order, insists de Zordo.

"It’s also some more responsibility," he added. "Beause more money doesn’t mean we want to waste money.

"We have to deliver more valuable [updates] to the car."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter