Haas’s sudden jump in performance has attracted the wrong kind of attention for the team. Several outfits are demanding a closer examination of the relationship between the American outfit and their technical partner, Ferrari.
Haas had an excellent run during the free practice session and surprised many of its mid-field contenders with a sudden jump its performance.
During the Australian Grand Prix, the team once again showed its improved pace and earned a place in the third row at the start-up grid. But due to a pitstop mistake, both their drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were forced to retire from the race.
The close collaboration with Ferrari is being pointed to as the reason for the American outfit’s ‘magical’ jump in its pace. The Italian outfit supplies many parts to Haas and even allows its chassis partner Dallara to use its wind tunnel for aero testing.
Formula 1 has strict regulation about parts and information that can be supplied to customer teams. There is a certain amount of parts a team has to produce on its own to be called a constructor. There are also restrictions on the rotation of personnel between two teams to ensure information about parts production is not shared.
McLaren and Force India have asked for an investigation into the collaboration to ensure the rules are not being broke.
Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer said:”I don’t know how they do it, it’s magic,” he said. “It’s never been done before in Formula 1.
“I just don’t know how it can be right that someone who’s been in the sport for a couple of years with no resource could produce a car [like this]… does it happen by magic?
“If it does, I want the wand.”
After watching the Haas cars on the track, McLaren driver Fernando Alonso called it a “Ferrari replica”.
Haas uses Ferrari’s front suspension, and that being the first aerodynamic point, naturally there will be a similarity in the aero design of both the team’s designs argues Haas driver Romain Grosjean.
McLaren executive director Zak Brown also supported the idea of an investigation into the partnership.
Brown said: “We all know they have a very close alliance with Ferrari and I think we just need to make sure it’s not too close.
“There could be some influence, there’s certainly some parts of the car that look very similar to last year’s car.
“But that’s for the engineers and the FIA to look at more closely.”
Force India wants the FIA to tell all the teams how they ensure the guidelines are followed and how the governing body ensures compliance in cses of collaborations.
“All the aerodynamic surfaces have to be your own,” he said. “If they’re not, I don’t know how you can tell unless you start investigating.
“Scrutineering only tells you that it fits within the boxes of the regulations.
“Is it yours or somebody else’s [idea]? That’s the real question. And I don’t know the answer to that.
“Maybe it is their own, it’s just suspect – how can you gain that knowledge without history and the right tools and people?”
When asked for a comment about the ‘Ferrari replica’ issues, Steiner said: “We have a team that can be proud of what it is achieving at the moment.
“We are not doing anything we shouldn’t be doing or not allowed to do.”
Force India are salty about it cos they find themselves competing with Williams who are currently 15+ in general.. That’s a surprise to me considering last years performance but just because they’ve dropped in performance they can’t accept it. Last year did anyone question their car given how close they are with Mercedes ? If you build a shit car you’ll get shit results. R&D is your race. The more pinker you get the more you might as park it & have a tea party…. Sahara Force India Formula One Team Haas F1 Team ….
Isn’t this what Liberty want? Everyone with the same car… ????