Haas F1 will save 250k in freight cost by using a “prat perch”
Haas F1 will save $250,000 in freight costs by using a "prat perch" that's half the size of their usual pit wall in the 2023 F1 season. Team principal Guenther Steiner claims that the team is using all the saved money to strengthen their 2023 challenger, the VF-23.
Don't judge. It's definitely a little bit colder here this year than it normally is 😉😅
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The team used to travel with a six-seat pit wall, but only four were used, more often than not. One seat is permanently reserved for team owner Gene Haas, who rarely shows up for F1 events. As a result, the American outfit were spending a lot more than they needed to for their pit wall and have now downsized to further aid their 2023 campaign. The team is perhaps unable to generate enough funds to adequately develop their car over the course of the year despite their new title sponsor, MoneyGram.
Speaking about the changes in their pit wall, team principal Guenther Steiner said to Motorsport.com:
“When you need to make efficiency, you look in everything. When you need money to invest in development, because we have the cost cap, where do you put it? You have six people out there, or a quarter of a million on car updates? I know what we are doing. And the guys came up with that idea, I said if I need to stay inside, I have no problems as well. I don't need to be there."
Money is no longer a 'limit' for Haas
There's nothing quite like watching F1 cars on-track this up close 🙌
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Team boss Guenther Steiner claims that money is no longer a limit for the American team in 2023 due to MoneyGram's involvement. The American outfit will look to climb the F1 hierarchy in the near future, with the return of Nico Hulkenberg to the squad.
Haas, having finished in eighth place in 2022, has always faced financial challenges, particularly in comparison to bigger names in the sport such as Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull. Although these top teams often struggle to comply with the budget cap, Haas struggles to meet the limit due to inadequate funding. Nonetheless, the team has recently resolved its funding issues thanks to MoneyGram, a US-based peer-to-peer payment and money transfer company. The Haas boss has announced that money is no longer a limiting factor for the American team, and that they will endeavor to achieve better results in the upcoming season.
Steiner told AMuS:
"We can get to the lid this year. This year (in 2022), as I said, a few million were missing. This year (2023), you can also develop more because a couple last year (went in to) have completely new regulations and new car, and we had to buy everything new and you spend a lot of money doing that. We can (do) just more in these exactly the same (budget figures) as the other teams and (that) should be possible. I always tell my engineers 'now money is no longer the limit, but talent, your talent.' It's all about talent now, not money."
With pre-season testing in Bahrain underway ahead of the new season, it will be interesting to see how the team performs in the future.