The coronavirus causes financial problems for many companies and Formula 1 teams are no exception. Guenther Steiner is hoping for a discount at Ferrari if the season gets a lot shorter than planned.
The Haas team is a loyal customer at Ferrari. The American team buys as many parts as possible from Maranello to assemble its own car, including the engine. This can however become an expensive contract if the F1 season only has a handful of races.
Of course, Haas is not the only team that has to get its engines from somewhere else, and according to Steiner they are talking about it. "It is currently the subject of negotiations how we should proceed with the leasing of engines," the team boss told Speedweek.com.
Not the full price
The only thing to do is to have an agreed calendar first. "We can't negotiate further until we have a specific calendar. It's simply too early for us as a customer to talk about it, but also for the supplier".
"But one thing is for sure: if we only have ten Grands Prix, we don't need the full supply of engines. If we only have half or a third of the races, it is clear that we are not going to pay the full price", said the Italian.
"The engine suppliers and the customers are in the same boat. We have to find a healthy compromise", Steiner concludes.