"Of course, that’s rubbish" – Ferrari-Haas rumors from paddock shot down by F1 pundit

Haas' drop in form at the Australian GP led to rumors of Ferrari threatening the American team to turn down its engines because the team was "doing too well". The Kannapolis-based outfit suffered a sudden drop in form in Australia after being in points contention in the first two races.

SkySports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz also touched upon it in his post-Australian GP segment, saying:

“Where has Haas’ pace gone? That’s an open question being asked by a lot of people in the paddock. From scoring points in the first couple of races with Kevin Magnussen to finishing P13 and P14 in Australia is very, very odd. There have been some suggestions among the rumour-mongers that maybe Ferrari are thinking Haas are doing a little bit too well and threatening them.”

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Kravitz, however, went ahead and rubbished these theories and pointed out that it was a set-up issue that cost the American team. He said:

“Of course, that’s rubbish. Ferrari are never going to threaten Haas to turn down their own engine. But that’s the rumour out there and you know I like to keep you across all these rumours in F1. I think the truth is, really, that they arrived here with the wrong set-up and never got it back. When you essentially write off Friday because you don’t have the right set-up, it’s very difficult to get it back.”

Guenther Steiner, the Haas team principal, also had similar views about the team's sudden drop in form. Steiner was, however, quick to point out that Australia was just an off-weekend and not the norm as the team will bounce back in Imola. He said:

“It didn’t work out as we planned. We always [seem to] make sure the Safety Car is out at the wrong time. Seriously though, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get unlucky. The car was strong and the drivers did a good job so we know if we qualify better we can score points, and that’s what we keep trying to do. As I always say, this year we’ve got a car that can score points, we’ve just had a difficult weekend. It’s one of three which was difficult – we go again at Imola.”

Ferrari lead both championships after commanding win in Australia

A reminder of our standings after three races in 2022!

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Ferrari is currently leading both the championships this season and the team stretched the gap even further at the Australian GP. The Italian outfit currently has 104 points as compared to just 65 points for second-placed Mercedes.

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