In the round-up: Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says their 2023 car “will be better” than last season as their technical team now have a season’s worth of experience working together.
In brief
Steiner confident new Haas “will be better” than 2022
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says their 2023 car “will be better” than last year’s car as their technical team now have a season’s worth of experience working together.The team finished eighth in the constructors’ championship after forgoing any development of their 2021 car to prioritise the rules changes of 2022. Steiner told Speedcafe that the team’s new car will benefit from the factory team having gelled together over the last year.
“Our technical team, which is designing the car, when they started to design the ’22 car in ’21, it was a lot of good people, but they didn’t work as a team together before,” Steiner explained.
“Now they have done one car – and it wasn’t a bad car, I must say – but now they’ve worked a year together. They work as a team now, so I think the next car will be better. We achieved a lot. Obviously the result in the end – finishing eighth – am I completely happy? Not really. But in the end it’s a good starting point for going forward. Haas F1 is here to stay. We are solid and I think we just can get better from now on.”
Daytona 24 hours helps IndyCar drivers prepare for new season – Kirkwood
IndyCar driver who races in the Daytona 24 hours do so to help prepare themselves for the start of the IndyCar season, says Kyle Kirkwood.
Kirkwood, who will be racing a Lexus sportscar in the GTD class alongside Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, will be enter into his second season of IndyCar in 2022 and will compete for Andretti. Asked if the Daytona endurance race will help to “knock off the rust” of the off-season, Kirkwood said “yeah, that’s exactly right – and that’s why we all do it.
“It’s a lot of fun to do that race too, he continued. “You’re racing against a bunch of drivers that you’re kind of cut-throat with when you come into the IndyCar Series and you could kind of relax a little bit and have fun with it. Sometimes you’re actually driving with one of your competitors in IndyCar. So it’s a cool thing to do, it’s a lot of fun. But it is definitely wearing on you as a person doing a 24 hour race because it’s hard to switch your mind out of a sprint race mentality and then go into the night. Tying to fall asleep is next to impossible. So you’re you’re definitely worn out by the end of that race.”
The Daytona 24 Hours takes place on Saturday 26th to Sunday 27th of January.
Maserati willing to defy FIA with pride stance
The Maserati Formula E team say they will continue to show support for the LGBTQ+ community with the use of pride flag colours on their car despite the FIA’s recent
The FIA have amended their International Sporting Code for 2023, including an article that prohibits drivers from “the general making and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA”. The new article appears to be a response to F1 drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel’s statements in support of human rights and environmental concerns in recent years.
Maserati team principal James Rossiter says that team – which will debut in the opening round in Mexico City next weekend after transitioning from Venturi – will continue to be vocal about their values.
“I think that from the team’s perspective obviously we’ve kept in line with that,” said Rossiter. “We’ve celebrated pride and we intend to celebrate the month of pride again this year. And then there’s very strong morals in our team. We will take do it properly – stand up for what we believe in and make sure we use our unique platform on a global basis to share our voice and our opinions.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Michael Andretti's answered every F1 challenge. It's time to green light Andretti Global (IndyStar)
"With his pedal slammed firmly to the floor, Andretti’s now flying around the bend on the inside, perhaps a wheel ahead of the likes of Stefano Domenicali, Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and company. Their egos – and their egos alone – stand to determine whether both sides can survive – and, frankly, thrive – in the coming years, or if one stands to end up on top of the other in a mangled, unnecessary mess."
Brad Pitt, Netflix and Cadillac are the game-changers F1 needs to finally crack America (i)
"The 2023 season will also see Brad Pitt about the paddock shooting scenes for a new F1 movie, to be produced by Lewis Hamilton. With the advent of Netflix you wonder if the great powers in Hollywood might not have that pairing the wrong way round."
The new Haas F1 logo isn't a winner (Creative Bloq)
"Logo redesigns for sports teams are always dangerous ground. We've seen plenty of controversies over the years, but few compare to the reaction to the new logo for the Formula 1 team Haas. The new Haas logo basically parks the mark of new sponsor MoneyGram on the edge of team's existing logo while changing up the font. The result is a bit of a mess to say the least, and it seems that on Twitter pretty much everyone thinks they can do a better job."
CITY GUIDE: Welcome to Mexico City (Formula E)
"With Formula E's legacy in Mexico City dating back to 2016, in that time, Mexico has reported a 68% growth in EV and hybrid vehicle sales, with the aim of reaching 50% hybrid or EVs by 2040, and 100% by 2050."
Buckle up and join ROC on a lap of the Cape Town E-Prix (CAR via YouTube)
"Mere months away, the Cape Town E-Prix is all systems go for the mother City, ushering in the first event of its kind on the African continent. Join ROC for a slow lap of the confirmed route with Iain Banner in his BMW i3."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it to us via the contact form.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Another one around the sun ✌🏾🎉 pic.twitter.com/Z2weYd9xa1
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) January 7, 2023
The perfect birthday cake doesn't exi– 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/Bvg9ZyD3Tw
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) January 7, 2023
Campus experience . 🔵🟡🔴 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/04asGd99d3
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) January 7, 2023
The perks of being a @ScuderiaFerrari driver are pretty cool 😎@Charles_Leclerc @Carlossainz55 pic.twitter.com/8sMbZqOKLp
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 7, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
The head of Saudi Arabia’s motorsport federation says that the kingdom is keen to attract Formula 1 teams to base themselves in the nation, but reader Zulu134 is cynical…
There is no chance an established team is going to try and move 800 people, plus rebuild all their facilities in a country that has little indigenous expertise and relies totally on expats (not to mention all the human rights issues). There is more of a chance of Ferrari moving to the UK (for which there is a strong argument they should given the level of F1 expertise in the country, including access to subcontractors) than Saudi putting itself at the center of anything motorsports related.
Zulu134
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Michael Roberts!
slowmo (@slowmo)
8th January 2023, 0:51
Haas will never finish 5th or above while ever they run on a shoe string budget and don’t develop their car. I recognise Steiner has to promote his team and build confidence and morale so the statement is just PR to me. They’ve done very little tangible to take strides forward imo.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
8th January 2023, 16:23
Agreed. I mean, they’ve gone as high as they’re going to go regardless of budget. They decided to run this time a certain way, not developing their parts in-house is reason they’re not going to go higher. Being a B-team to Ferrari means they won’t ever be anything but a B-team (similarly, AT will never be a WDC contender either because of this choice). They will always just be a lower midfielder unless the entire team structure is overturned, budget increase or no.
Todfod (@todfod)
9th January 2023, 9:57
The teams an absolute joke. They don’t know how to design a car, build mechanical components, build an engine, develop a car or even manage drivers. They’re incapable of making a competitive car or even maximising what they have in hand.
I have far more respect for the teams that finished below Haas in the 2022 season… at least they have the knowledge and capability that an F1 team requires to compete.
Haas peaked with their Ferrari copy in 2018.. they’ll never come close to that level of performance again.
Claus J
9th January 2023, 11:57
If not due to ability to design/build/develop/manage and if incapable of making a competitive car or maximizing what they do have, then what made them able to finish ahead of the teams you do respect?
Todfod (@todfod)
10th January 2023, 6:22
I dont respect anything about them. Their credit for finishing ahead should be given to Ferrari and Dallara, since they’ve been responsible for providing every part of the car. All Haas has to do is manage track operations and drivers. They’re horrible with managing drivers… and they’re mediocre at track operations.
But since I have to pick something I respect about them… let’s say its their outsourcing skills. (slow clap)
Claus J
10th January 2023, 16:22
I wasn’t actually asking you to name something you respect :o)
Bu thank you for trying!
I was merely wondering what they do to avoid finishing last. It’s arguably the slowest car on the grid, the engine has blown up several times, they get slammed by regulations, they are driven by drivers nobody else will hire, yet somehow they manage not to be last. I wonder why/how/what…
Alan S Thomson
9th January 2023, 20:20
Haas always will be a joke.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th January 2023, 7:31
Nice helmet cakes. I wish I had them.
SteveR
8th January 2023, 17:45
Yeah, well the other teams are going to get better too, so Haas’ position probably won’t change.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th January 2023, 18:29
Good for Maserati – at least this way they will be able to make certain to get some attention. And it IS important that someone challenges the FIAs clampdown on pretty much anything that might be seen to be an opinion or subject not shared with everyone in power at the FIA or the goverments and companies that send them money.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
9th January 2023, 3:22
@bascb it’s rather sad that in 2023, “Pride” isn’t considered neutral.
Maybe if the FIA didn’t keep bending over for regimes which are 100 years behind everyone else this wouldn’t be an issue.
SteveR
9th January 2023, 4:34
+1.
S
9th January 2023, 4:52
is otherwise known as inclusiveness…. Woke, even – in modern parlance.
Opposing it is an example of being somewhat exclusive – potentially even discriminatory.
How many times have we all been told (and told others) that discrimination is bad….?
BasCB (@bascb)
9th January 2023, 15:08
Defenitely @justrhysism
Qeki (@qeki)
9th January 2023, 19:39
Haas logo reminds me of something similar. White and red and mainsponsor over the team name. Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari