Haas doubt Williams can be caught after Hungary windfall

2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner sees little chance of the team lifting itself from last place in the championship this year.

Williams, which was Haas’ closest rival prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, enjoyed a windfall result last weekend which moved them 10 points ahead in the standings. While that could be reduced to six points if Aston Martin successfully overturn Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification, Steiner doubts their rivals can be caught now.

“The chances are very, very low,” he said. “I’m very realistic about these things.

“Williams didn’t expect to make the points they make. They did a good job and ended up in a good place at the right time. That’s how racing happens.

“That’s why I always say you always have to try to do your best. So they were there when there was some points given away and that’s what they did. But I’m not betting that we get more points than them.”

After 11 of 23 races, Haas remain yet to score. Alfa Romeo lie between them and Williams on three points.

Mick Schumacher gave Haas their best result of the season so far last weekend with 12th place. However Steiner was frustrated to see Nikita Mazepin, in the team’s other car, forced to retire after being hit by Kimi Raikkonen in the pits.

“It was very disappointing because it was no need for it,” Steiner said. “Sometimes these things happen, they shouldn’t happen.”

However he doesn’t believe last weekend’s race was a missed opportunity for the team to score its first points of 2021.

“For me, making points would have been difficult even without the crash. But for me, the biggest thing is Nikita missed another race where he can learn a lot of things. That is my bigger concern than the points in the moment.

“So it happened, you cannot make it right and hopefully we learn something out of that.”

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11 comments on “Haas doubt Williams can be caught after Hungary windfall”

  1. There wasn’t much chance before either.

  2. Should be an interesting Fight between Williams and Alfa here on in though.

    1. True, alfa seems the better car but williams has definitely the better driver pairing.

    2. Might not be much of a battle. Alfa scored only 2 points in 10 races (3 in 11 if you count Hungary), they should increase the strike rate quite a bit. I’d say the situation is little bit like the Minardi-Jordan battle of 2005 where one freak result decided the outcome.

      Then again, only it takes is one really good day for Alfa and they should be back ahead of Williams.

  3. Not much to say, HAAS was already looking well behind Williams. Steiner was acting like they were well in a battle, something I was seeing in quali and races this season.

    Now to see if they can keep ahead of Alfa Romeo, which I think would be a tall order; Alfa has not been looking good this season with some really bad races but wouldn’t be surprised if they’re able come back with a couple of point worthy races. Will be interesting to see what happens.

    1. Previously, the position would have been decided by either team scoring a point. Now it doesn’t. It was a close battle, now it isn’t.

      1. @sham

        I would say it’s definitely game over for Haas. Alfa had a bad year last year with only scoring on 8 pts, in 2019 they scored 58 points but that seems like a decade ago but I wouldn’t be too surprised if AF are able to come back with a couple of point scoring races. They’ve had a lot of bad races putting them where they are now, seriously doubt Williams will score more than 1 point (at best) for the rest of the season. It’s now all up to AF to make a come back.

        Happy to see Williams finish 8th for the season, they could use the money and they’ve earned it; they’ve been working really hard and doing a good job restructuring themselves to no longer being the red lantern (lanterne rouge) team.

  4. The real question is ‘Why is Hass even in F1, and how long will it be before they’re out?’

    1. They are here to survive as team until 2022.
      That was the goal from the start.
      And to be the learning opportunity for two rookies.
      Until now we have mazespin and crashshummie.

  5. Alfa Romeo might have the same problem catching up to Williams.

  6. The point system and money payout needs to change. It favors the winners too heavily. This contributes to them continuing to win. Why should Haas or Williams continue in F1? I’m open to correction but I believe the payout to Mercedes last year from winning the title was more than the budget Haas or Williams spent last year. Give one point for each car beaten all the way down the field so finishing 16th instead of 17th means at least a little bit so there’s some incentive to race in the middle and back. Make the payout equal to all teams so it’s not about money.

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