Guenther Steiner on how Haas was able to execute the Red Bull style concept change within the cost cap
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner recently talked about the team's struggles with aerodynamics in the past and their implementation of the Red Bull aerodynamic concept. The American team will soon be bringing one of their biggest upgrades to the upcoming 2023 F1 US GP, through which they hope to improve their performance drastically.
Speaking to formu1a.uno, Steiner explained how the initial aerodynamic concept of the VF-23 could not be improved even further due to the new regulations of 2022. Hence, they decided to change the aerodynamics and mimic Red Bull's downwash concept to create more load and less drag in their car. He said:
“The VF-23 upgrade is aerodynamic. We changed the concept of the car because where we started, due to the new regulations last year, we could not achieve further improvements in terms of performance. Creating more load and less drag was simply no longer possible so we had to change to what is commonly known as the “Red Bull concept” or “downwash concept.”
Furthermore, he stated that although the upcoming Red Bull-esque upgrade to Haas VF-23 is a substantial one, it is not going to break the team's bank account since they did not have any major upgrades at the start of the season. Essentially, the American team has invested a major chunk of development money in this upcoming upgrade. Guenther Steiner added:
“This is a substantial upgrade and we are able to do it within cost constraints because we had no upgrades at the start of the season having not found any performance that we could achieve and put the car on."
Haas team principal receives criticism from German publication after team's poor performance in 2023
Former F1 driver Timo Glock recently criticized Haas, particularly team principal Guenther Steiner for not developing their car enough in 2023. While speaking on the German wing of Sky F1, he said:
“As far as Haas is concerned, I have to ask myself the question: Have they not learned anything from the wind tunnel? You would have to ask Haas team boss Guenther Steiner where all the major improvements are. Nico Hulkenberg is right to criticise this. Nico wants to move forward and sees that there is only stagnation at the moment. It is absolutely his right to make this clear to the team.”
This criticism was mainly made after Nico Hulkenberg stated how bad the car felt in the 2023 F1 Italian GP and that the American outfit did not bring any upgrades to improve the car.