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Team principal Guenther Steiner believes Haas is on a 'normal' development path again after a disappointing couple of seasons. The American outfit has struggled immeasurably in recent years, having finished close to the bottom of the table consistently.
Haas fought valiantly for fourth place in 2018, managing to finish just behind Renault in fifth. The following years, however, were a greater challenge for Steiner and co. due to their funding issues. In 2019, the team had a chaotic season courtesy of its sponsor Rich Energy and the debacle that surrounded it.
In 2020, Haas failed to score consistent points and chose not to develop its car for 2021 to try and get on top of the aerodynamic regulation changes in 2022. While the team did do considerably better last year, it failed to sustain its consistency over the course of the season.
Guenther Steiner believes that the team is back on a 'normal' development path for the 2023 season and is expected to do better in times to come. He told Motorsport-Total:
"I always tell my guys now, 'No matter what happens here, how good we are, we're now a normal team again, whatever normal means, because we're just evolving.'"
The Haas boss continued:
"When you're not where you are, you develop. In the last [three years] there has obviously been no development. We had to fix a lot of problems. This year, on the other hand, they have grown together as a team, as you can see from our reliability, and they work much better. For us, this year is a normal year again, like any other team."
Money is no longer a 'limit' for Haas
According to team boss Guenther Steiner, Haas will no longer be constrained by financial limitations in the 2023 F1 season thanks to MoneyGram's involvement. With Nico Hulkenberg rejoining the team, Haas is determined to climb the F1 hierarchy and compete with the sport's big names such as Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull.
Haas has always struggled financially, especially in comparison to larger and more established teams. While the top teams occasionally struggle to adhere to the budget cap, Haas has historically been unable to meet the limit due to a lack of adequate funding.
However, their financial concerns have been resolved lately thanks to the involvement of MoneyGram, a US-based company specializing in peer-to-peer payment and money transfer.
Team boss Steiner has confirmed that money will no longer be a restricting factor, and the team will aim to improve its performance in the upcoming season.
Steiner told AMuS:
"We can get to the lid this year. This year (in 2022), as I said, a few million were missing. This year (2023), you can also develop more because a couple last year (went in to) have completely new regulations and new car, and we had to buy everything new and you spend a lot of money doing that."
He added:
"We can (do) just more in these exactly the same (budget figures) as the other teams and (that) should be possible. I always tell my engineers 'now money is no longer the limit, but talent, your talent.' It's all about talent now, not money."
