Guenther Steiner believes it is possible that the Haas F1 Team can get through the entire 2018 Formula 1 season without the need to take an engine penalty, and that is all down to the work Ferrari do in that department.
The team principal of Haas has praised Ferrari for the step forward they’ve made this season, not just in reliability but also in competitiveness, which means they have been able to fight throughout the season to be best of the rest behind the leading three teams on the grid.
Haas currently sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with three rounds of the season to go, starting this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexican Grand Prix, twenty-two points behind the Renault Sport Formula One Team.
“I think we can, but we’re not at the end of the year, so I don’t want to be optimistic,” said Steiner. “Our plan is to live within our allocation of three power units and not get any penalties. That is the aim.
“There are still three races to go but, hopefully, we can achieve it because Ferrari is doing a good job. All the other power units in all the other Ferrari-powered cars are still on target.
“You can see in the results that we’re achieving. We’re fighting for fourth place in the constructors’ championship. That’s credit to what Ferrari does and what we do.”
Heading into the Mexican weekend, Steiner hopes the team can learn from their previous visits to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and have a strong weekend with both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean as they bid to close that gap to Renault in the standings.
The Austrian believes the strong performances they’ve shown during 2018 can give them heart that they can turn one of their weakest tracks from the past two campaigns into a strong weekend this time around.
“This year we have more downforce than we’ve ever had before,” said Steiner. “Our plan is to use that. With downforce, you create grip. The aim is to have a good car like all the other places we’ve had this season.
“The biggest effect comes from losing aero performance because of the thinner air. A turbo engine doesn’t lose as much power as an aspirated one. A big issue is the cooling of the engine, because of the altitude. I think in the last two years we’ve learned a lot. Hopefully, this year we adapt better and have a good result.”
