Racing through Covid helped F1 teams survive - Steiner
Racing through Covid helped F1 teams survive - Steiner
F1’s ability to deliver a 17-race show this season and to announce a provisional 23-race schedule for 2021 has been crucial in helping teams get through the Covid crisis, according to Haas boss Guenther Steiner.
The globetrotting sport could have been one of the worst hit when the world locked down earlier this year, but instead the organisers created a new calendar based in Europe and the Middle East and resumed racing within four months.
Steiner admitted in October that the US-based Haas team was hit hard financially by the crisis, but said the rapidly revised plans and now the announcement of the calendar has helped give a level of certainty for next year.
“As always with these things, they’re much more difficult when there are unknowns,” he said. “I think the good thing is we have proven, even in a very difficult year like this one, that we were able to get a calendar together.
“Yes, it wasn’t more than 20 races, but it’s 17 and it’s been a good season. [As a result] it’s not as bad as it looks like to speak with partners and suppliers.
“There’s always a little bit of guesswork in it, and who guesses better has got the advantage. Experience helps a lot here, but I would say, due to a very successful 2020, it’s not been made so difficult to plan and speak with people for 2021.”
It has, however, still been a very difficult season for the team who currently sit ninth in the championship having scored just three points from two top-ten finishes and need at least five points to catch Alfa Romeo ahead in eighth.
This weekend’s race in Turkey sees teams racing on the fourth unfamiliar circuit in a row, following events at the Nürburgring, Portimão and Imola, and Steiner is hoping things can finally work out for them this time around.
“It’s like a lot of these late races, our drivers haven’t been to them,” said Steiner. “Imola wasn’t so great for us, but I would not put it down to us not knowing what we were doing because it was a new track – it was just the circumstances.
“Otherwise, I think it’s a great experience for the team to go somewhere new, it’s a great experience for the drivers. In the position we are in now, we just try to do our best and hopefully get home with some points.”
Before you go...
Calendar gives “high confidence” for “return to normality” – Brown
F1 reveals provisional 23-race 2021 calendar minus the Vietnam Grand Prix
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Vettel announces F1 return as FIA single Mercedes out for Miami checks - GPFans F1 Recap
- 2 hours ago
F1 team announce SHOCK signing weeks after rival departure
- 3 hours ago
Former team boss quizzed on role in Newey's Red Bull exit
- Yesterday 21:57
RB reveal STRIKING new livery ahead of Miami GP
- Yesterday 20:57
EXCLUSIVE: Insider claims F1 Academy and W Series couldn't co-exist
- Yesterday 19:57
Wolff delivers big verdict on Hamilton behaviour
- Yesterday 18:57
Related news
Schumacher urges F1 star to make way for Bearman in 2025
F1 team announce SIGNIFICANT change of direction
F1 star mounts pressure on Bearman amid rumours on future
F1 team boss 'gutted' to miss beloved football club in historic FA Cup semi-final
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860