Haas facing 2020 without a title sponsor

Haas

Haas facing 2020 without a title sponsor

Boss Guenther Steiner says that less money could prove to unify the Haas team in 2020

Sam Hall

Monday 27 January 2020 10:18

Haas have been left counting the loss after a mid-season split with then title sponsor Rich Energy has significantly reduced the team's operating budget for 2020.

Sponsors come and go frequently in Formula One. This can be clearly evidenced from the ever changing liveries seen on the grid. McLaren famously with the iconic Marlboro livery before changing to the grey and red of West.

Williams, as an independent team, have also always run in the colours of a title sponsor. Rothmans, Winfield, BMW, Martini and, in 2019, ROKiT, are just examples from the past three decades.

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Haas entered F1 without a title sponsor in 2016 without a title sponsor and ran that way until 2019 The injection of cash from having a big name sponsor was expected to push the team nearer to the front of the pack but instead, the exact opposite happened.

Tyre problems plagued the U.S. based team's year and team boss Guenther Steiner knows that this cannot happen again.

“We have to be more critical of ourselves,” Steiner told Italia Racing. “The drivers were not convinced of the updates we brought to Barcelona.

“No one had the courage to say that they were not working, because the car was fast, despite what the numbers indicated. But trusting was a mistake.

“Barcelona is a particular track, where our car is always competitive. We went ahead with it, but when we realised it was the wrong direction it was too late.”

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Commenting on the lack of a title sponsor for 2020, Steiner added that the step backwards could prove to once again unify the team.

“It’s a big loss, but we need to move forward and find new solutions, and be more efficient than ever,” he said. “I think the team has worked well and made good progress. We are better prepared for 2020.

“We are on schedule for the winter tests and at the moment there are no worries. I am very confident of going back to where we were in 2018.”