Steiner: "This will not be our strongest year"

Haas F1 Team are now on their way to Bahrain, where they will complete the test days with the recently presented VF-21. It will be an exciting year for the American F1 team, which will take the stage with two new drivers behind the wheel. Mick Schumacher does not need an introduction and there was a lot of noise around Nikita Mazepin. Enough work, it seems, for team principal Guenther Steiner.

Coronavirus

Due to all the coronavirus problems, there was anything but a flawless run-up to the winter tests for the Haas team. Also, according to Steiner, anything but ideal. On the Haas F1 Team website, he says: "For the first time we did the car build in the U.K. and not in Italy. This was only possible as we had a lot of carry-over parts from last year - the car at its base level was the same as last year’s. Otherwise, things would have been more difficult. For example, we couldn’t fire the engine up before going to Bahrain."

Due to the travel restrictions, the mechanics in England and Italy could not work well together this time. "All the systems have been checked but we can only fire up in Bahrain as the Italian engineers and mechanics, if they’d travelled to the U.K., they’d have had to quarantine there. And then when they would have gone back to Italy, they’d have gone into quarantine there too. There just wasn’t enough time. It was quite disruptive, but as always, we find ways around it.”

New drivers

The aim during the test days in Bahrain is therefore clear, according to Steiner. “Both drivers are not very familiar with the car yet. Mick did drive for us in Abu Dhabi last year, but Nikita hasn't driven our car for a second. We must therefore try to drive as many laps as possible and collect as much data as possible. We don't have much time, so we have to make the best of it. ”

Still, the flamboyant team boss expects a lot from his two rookies. “Up to now everything has been positive, which is nice to hear, but there’s still work to be done. The team likes the two young guys, they have adapted quickly, and they have so much enthusiasm for this. The drivers obviously like the team too," he added. 

Haas, which recently waved goodbye to Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, is starting a new future with two new drivers. What does Steiner expect from this? "There’s a lot of excitement but obviously, we know it will not be our strongest year. We’ll build up strong for the future though with what we take from this year."