Haas to make final upgrades at Imola: 'Step back to move forward'

With two rookies at the start of the season, Haas are facing a big challenge. In recent seasons, the American team drove with two experienced drivers, but this year they are changing their strategy completely. Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will have to score the points this season and they will have to do so with a car that will hardly get any upgrades.

This is because the final upgrades will go on the car at Imola and there will be no further development on the Haas car after that, Guenther Steiner explained. "Everything that we planned to have here has also arrived here. We had some late developments that we will introduce in Imola, but then that will also be the last step of this car," the Haas team boss informed The Race.

Step back to go forward

"It's just some smaller parts for Imola, so no big changes to be honest. They are parts that we couldn't get ready in time for this race. So after Imola, Haas will continue to drive the same car and the focus will already be towards 2022. "We knew for a month that those parts would not be ready in time. So those parts will come in Imola and we will not change the car after that."

For Schumacher and Mazepin, this will have major implications, but Haas has already taken this into account. "We see this as a transition year. Of course we are already putting the focus on 2022. We have said that we see this as a step back to move forward. We will not hold back on the developments for 2022," Steiner concluded.