Felipe Nasr is expecting the Haas F1 Team to become a very competitive outfit in a short amount of time due to the resources the new American team has at its disposal.
Haas has collaborated with Ferrari for 2016, and will use the same power unit as Nasr’s Sauber team, with the Brazilian feeling Haas will be a midfield team despite being a brand new team.
“With the resources and financial side they have they can catch up very quickly, they can develop very quickly,” said Nasr on Autosport.
“It’s difficult for a new team to start a season in F1, to get the operations side correct, to get everything smooth, but I’m sure with time they will be very competitive.”
Nasr will have his first taste of the new Sauber C35 during the second pre-season test next week after the team ran with their 2015 C34 during the opening test. Despite this, the Brazilian, who will be competing in his second Formula 1 season with the Swiss team in 2016, felt the team was able to get some useful running in.
“There are many other things you can do,” said Nasr. “We all wish the new car was ready before, but areas we didn’t have time to explore last year we did it now.
“By running the old car we’ve had good days practicing our communication and procedures. It might sound boring, but we know the radio communications will be much more restricted this year, so it’s good to practice them.
“Set-up work [too], they are all valid and worth doing. We really have a read on the tyres as well. By running the same car we had last year we know the references. It gives us an idea what to expect.”
