Haas’ partnership with Ferrari is the cornerstone of the US outfit’s F1 project, but Gene Haas insists his team needs to get closer to the Scuderia’s cars out on the track.
Since its inception, Haas has relied on Ferrari’s power unit and on a substantial portion of components supplied by the Scuderia.
Along with its manufacturing partnership with Dallara, the close collaboration has several key benefits for Haas.
Firstly, Ferrari's expertise is invaluable to Haas. By utilizing its power unit and suspension elements, Haas gains access to cutting-edge engineering and design that would be difficult or impossible for the team to replicate on its own.
This technological advantage has been instrumental in Haas's ability to compete in Formula 1 since 2016, despite their relatively limited resources.
Secondly, the partnership with Ferrari provides Haas with a significant cost advantage. By purchasing components from Ferrari, Haas avoids the need to develop and manufacture these parts in-house.
This reduces their overhead costs and allows them to focus their resources on other areas of the team.
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Thirdly, the partnership with Ferrari has helped Haas to establish a strong reputation in F1.
Despite its limited success, the American outfit has gained credibility and recognition among fans and within the paddock thanks to its link with Ferrari.
This has been crucial in attracting sponsors and partners, which are essential for any F1 team.
“Ferrari has been very good to us,” commented Gene Haas in the wake of the team’s management changes following the exit this week of team boss Guenther Steiner.
“They have been with us since day one, they build incredible engines. Their suspension is extremely good. We have been using a lot of their hardware. It works really well. They really do help us.
“I’m embarrassed that we haven’t been able to do better with it but going forward, I want to take advantage of good equipment that a lot of other teams don’t have.
“Things are going to get a lot more competitive. Red Bull have AlphaTauri, we’re starting to see these relationships evolve, and I think the competition is going to be very intense, so having a partner like Ferrari is going to be very important.”
The bottom line for Gene Haas is that his outfit needs to better leverage its partnership with Ferrari and translate that into solid results on Sunday.
“We’re very happy to stay with Ferrari. I hope we can help them in terms of reliability,” he added.
“Going forward, when Sauber drops Ferrari power, we would be Ferrari’s only user. They might want to pick up a customer or two.
“Maybe they’ll be happy with us. But we have got to do better. We can’t be running so far behind Ferrari. We need to be closer to them.”
The Dallara partnership is another key element of the Haas business model. The company’s remarkable engineering expertise, developed over decades of manufacturing racing cars across a multitude of categories, has been invaluable to Haas.
The Haas-Ferrari-Dallara partnership is a unique and successful model in Formula 1. By combining the strengths of three different companies, Haas has been able to compete at a high level despite its relatively limited resources.
This partnership is a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of building strong relationships in the business world.
“I think we’ve actually got a great formula here,” added Gene Haas.
“We have Ferrari engines which probably have more power than anybody right now. We have Ferrari hardware [as per the permitted listed parts within the regulations], we have a good chassis.
“I talk to a lot of the engineers and I think our biggest failing is aero; our aero programme needs work. When you’re at the track and you’re humiliated every weekend, I’m going to stop taking that one anymore.”
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