"There is a perception we spend a lot less money": Gene Haas addresses concerns of underinvestment at the American F1 team
Gene Haas has addressed concerns of underinvestment at the team as the recent restructuring within the American squad turns heads. The last couple of days have been all about Haas and the departure of some prominent figures.
Guenther Steiner was the latest name to leave the team and the news of his departure was preceded by Simone Resta leaving Haas. In all of this, there have been reports that team owner Gene Haas had a disagreement with both Resta and Steiner which led to their exits.
The disagreement is reported to be surrounding the future direction of the team as both Steiner and Resta advocated additional investment which Gene wasn't willing to do.
When questioned about the same in his conversation with F1.com, Gene pointed to the fact that the team had been investing very close to the budget cap and his concern has been the lack of efficiency in the expenses.
“There is a perception we spend a lot less money; we’re usually within $10m of the budget limit. I just think we don’t do a very good job of spending that money. A lot of teams have had previous investments in their infrastructure, buildings, equipment and personnel," he said.
"Our model was to outsource a lot of that. We spend a lot of money. We haven’t exceeded the cap but we’re pretty darn close to it. I just don’t think we’re doing a very good job of spending it in the most effective way,” Gene added.
Gene Haas doubles down on efficient spending as one of the key traits of the team
Gene Haas cited the example of Haas automation, which has been running for 40 years now, and emphasized the importance of efficient spending and how it has made him successful.
"That’s one of the reasons we have survived – because we are so conscious of how we spend money. Being efficient at what we do is going to make sure we survive in this series. We’re one of the longest-surviving teams, everyone else [other new teams] have had the tendency to spend all their money in the first few years and then they go out of business," he stated.
“We survived for eight years, and we’re not in a situation where we are going to go out of business. But I certainly want to be able to survive for the next 10 years,” Gene added.
Haas' major overhaul has been a bit of a surprise. It will be interesting to see what happens next as the team gears up for the 2024 F1 season.