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Haas eager for new era after tough year
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the tough season his team has endured makes it especially eager about the prospects for a much more competitive 2022.
New regulations were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and so 2021 saw a number of components frozen to keep costs down and help the teams survive, although new floor regulations required certain changes. Haas opted against upgrading its 2021 car in order to put its full resources into next year’s new technical rules, and Steiner says the past 12 months allowed him to prepare two rookie drivers for a better future.
“It was a very challenging, very tough year, but going into it we knew this was coming,” Steiner said. “It didn’t disappoint with the predictions! But in the end we are almost through it and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’m very confident we can be where we were before the pandemic hit us. This year was what it was -- we couldn’t do a lot about it but we made the best out of it. I think the two drivers developed very well, the team stayed strong, we didn’t make a lot of mistakes.
“That is what we wanted to use this year -- to get ready for the future. And we are ready.”
Steiner believes both Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin benefited from the lack of scrutiny on their rookie seasons in an uncompetitive car, where mistakes were not highlighted as much as they could have been had the stakes been higher.
“When you have a situation (like 2021), you always learn more from doing things wrong than doing them right. I wouldn't say we did anything wrong, we were just in a difficult position and we always tried to get the best out of it, so hopefully it pays off to keep us focused. For sure it was an advantage for the drivers because in the end they had a little bit less pressure.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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