Haas have improved phenomenally in F1’s new era, following an abysmal 2021 campaign.
While focusing all of their attention on 2022, the team finished last in the 2021 constructors’ championship, with Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher finding themselves alone at the back of the grid every race.
Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher proved that the team’s sacrifices in 2021 had paid off last year, with a couple of stunning performances from the team in Bahrain and Austria capping off a successful year for the team.
Haas will be looking to take advantage of the budget cap this season, which team principal Guenther Steiner expects the team to be able to hit for the first time this year.
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This cap will enable the team to spend the exact same as the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes over the course of the season, putting the grid on a level playing field.
The challenge now for Haas is to find the best ways to allocate their budget, which covers every expenditure by the team.
The American team have shown off one of their genius money-saving ideas during Bahrain testing, with Haas having shrunk their pit wall to fit only three people.
Compared to Red Bull’s luxurious, high-tech seven seater pit wall, Haas’ three-man box looks somewhat primitive, however Guenther Steiner has claimed that this smaller pit wall will save the team $250,000.
The Haas boss has explained that when given the choice of having a large pit wall or spending $250,000 on car upgrades, the decision became a no-brainer.
“Do you have six people out there? Or a quarter of a million on car updates? I know what we’re doing,” said Steiner.
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“The guys came up with that idea and if I need to stay inside, I have no problem with doing that. I don’t need to be there.
“With three seats we can cover what we need to cover and rearrange. It’s saving money to put into development because we have the cost cap.”
With the experienced driver pairing of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg in the cars this season, Haas will be confident of becoming a strong midfield force once again.