'There are a lot of whiners in F1' - Haas

Gene Haas has dismissed critics of his team's approach to F1, saying "there are a lot of whiners" and warning he is going nowhere.

Haas entered in to a close technical partnership with Ferrari ahead of its F1 debut, taking an extra year to prepare for its entry and purchasing as many parts as is allowed under the regulations. The result has been an impressive start with Romain Grosjean securing top six finishes in each of the opening two races, and Haas says he does not understand any criticism of the approach from other teams.

"I guess in a sense there are a lot of whiners in F1, that talk about our success… we are here racing," Haas said. "If a driver can figure out how to get through a turn and beat somebody, we all think that he is a genius. We are kind of like a racer.

"We figured out what the challenges are, we put it together this way. We went out on track and said we can do this. I don’t know what they are complaining about. We are just racing on their turf. If they can’t figure that out they have a problem."

And Haas argues the majority of teams purchase major components, therefore taking a similar approach themselves.

“First of all there are only two constructors in this whole series, that is Ferrari and Mercedes. They design their own cars, they design their own engines and for the most part they probably make 90% of the parts in-house or with their designs. Everybody else gets the major component - the engine - from another supplier.

"So those other nine teams are basically just like us. We have a bigger percentage than they have but they are getting a major component - that engine - from an outside supplier. We get that engine and transmission from an outside supplier, so quite frankly I think that’s just little bit of sour grapes."

With Grosjean believing critics of the team's approach are fuelled by jealousy, Haas agrees and says the challenges he has faced to make it to the grid means he will be around for a long time in F1.

“We never read that memo that said you had to come in to Formula 1 and run in the back for five years, so we kind of ignore that. If anything, Formula 1 has provided numerous obstacles getting in here right from the beginning with Bernie [Ecclestone] saying ‘I don’t think these guys are going to make it’, to putting up a $20million bond to be here.

"There’s been a lot of obstacles to get to this point and now we’re here, we’re here. We’re not going away, they better get used to it and if people don’t like it that’s their problem, not my problem.”

Romain Grosjean column: A start beyond my craziest dream