Steiner on Racing Point/Mercedes comparison: “You have to think before you talk”

Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner has said “you should think before you talk” to Racing Point amid controversy about their 2020 challenger after they complained about the American teams car a few years ago.

There has been some anonymous displeasure from teams in the pits in Barcelona about Racing Point’s 2020 car looking very similar to Mercedes’ championship winning W10 from last yearand finished the first day of testing with Sergio Perez just behind the Silver Arrows in third.
 
Racing Point have a close partnership with Mercedes but Steiner wanted to remind them of comments they made when Haas produced a Ferrari looking car a few years ago.

“Sometimes you have to think before you talk, I will say that one, because maybe one day it’s your turn and then you cannot go against it,” he told Motorsport.com.

“As we all know, they complained quite heavily a few years ago, so now it is going full circle. It is up to them. I don’t really care.”

Steiner doesn’t have an issue with the copycat problem though, stating that it would be silly of Racing Point to replicate a Ferrari or Red Bull car as they are Mercedes customers.

 “I would put it like this…they use a lot of Mercedes parts on their car, so why would they go and copy a Red Bull? It’s the same with us,” he added.

“We buy a lot of parts from Ferrari. So which car are we going to copy? I guess a Ferrari. I mean, if you will copy a Toro Rosso or a Red Bull we would be pretty stupid because we would try to invent something which is not there.

“So I think they’re just doing what we are doing: just trying to get the best out of it and use that model.”