Guenther Steiner says Haas F1’s MoneyGram title sponsorship deal means the team will operate at the budget cap limit next season and step up to “the next level” to fight for podiums.

MoneyGram will become Haas’ title sponsor in 2023, with the U.S.-based company signing a multi-year deal that will influence next year’s livery. With the budget cap firmly introduced last year and Haas one of the smaller outfits on the grid, team principal Steiner says it will now have the funds to operate on an equal footing with the majority of teams and can target podiums in the longer-term as a result.

“With the budget cap now in place, with this deal we can go to the budget cap and everybody’s on a similar platform,” Steiner said. “Obviously the big teams can spend outside of the budget cap more, but I always say that with the budget cap in the mid-to-long-term there shouldn’t be this problem anymore that you cannot fight for podiums.

“That is what we want to do, and with this deal I think we make that step that in the next few years we can fight for podiums. I’m not promising it for next year, because we just came back from two years which were very bad for us. We recovered pretty well and really continue to improve, but it will take time.

“We’re realistic — I do not want to send out messages now that we are going to win and whatnot, but this is the step to the next level for Haas F1, where we can really fight with other people at the same level. Now it’s down to us to do a good job and I’ve never been afraid to work hard or ask the team to work hard and to achieve certain things. That is what we will continue to do as long as I am here.”

MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes says the timing was right for his company to take advantage of Formula 1’s growth, believing the 2023 race in Las Vegas will elevate the sport to another level.

“The overlap in the sport — the fastest way to send money, the fastest sport that there is — when you think about the demographic that we’re going after, the amount of energy that comes from a Formula 1 race, the excitement around the world about Formula 1, it really just builds on the momentum of what we’re doing in the payment space,” Holmes said.

“We are really transforming how money moves around the world. We’re venturing into blockchain, doing things in crypto now, really thinking differently about consumer needs all over the world. I think there’s just so many synergies with where Formula 1’s going.

“And the rebranding efforts of the last couple of years… What’s happening with the United States, what’s happening around the race in Vegas, what’s going to come from the energy and momentum around — that I think is just second to none right now. So that opportunity is huge for us.

“When you combine that with what Haas has been doing — I love an underdog story. MoneyGram has been kicked around a lot and we were always told, ‘Hey, someone’s going to do something different and displace you’ and we put every amount of effort into transforming ourselves and disrupting ourselves and sticking around.

“That’s what you have to do in this sport — you have to be competitive, you have to continue to come back out on the track and pick yourself up and re-invent yourself and keep pushing forward. That’s absolutely what Guenther’s about, it’s what the Haas team is about, it’s what the drivers on the team represent, and I think it could not be more perfect.”