Steiner issues Ferrari "bomb" threat for 2023

Ewan Gale
Tuesday 6 December 2022 12:45

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has claimed Ferrari's new engine for 2023 will be "the bomb" after a meeting with outgoing Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto.

Binotto resigned from his post at the end of a season that promised so much for Ferrari after two race wins in the first three events.

But reliability issues were a major limiting factor, as well as operational issues within the Maranello-based team.

Binotto also conceded at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that the power unit was turned down in the second half of the year in order to stave off the reliability failures that had previously occurred.

With Haas and Alfa Romeo customers of Ferrari, the two teams will hope for improvements after being hit by similar issues throughout the past campaign.

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Speaking at the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy Awards ceremony, where Kevin Magnussen picked up the prize, Steiner revealed talks with Binotto had piqued optimism.

"I met Mattia and he told me next season's engine will be the bomb,” said Steiner.

“If it [the engine] is competitive, it will be positive for us, too.”

Magnussen secures award

Magnussen picked up the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy for his efforts in F1 this season.

The Dane secured his maiden pole position and helped Haas jump to eighth in the constructors' standings.

The award recognises the achievements of an individual or team in F1, though no driver is able to win the trophy on more than one occasion.

Congratulations to Kevin for picking up the 2022 Lorenzo Bandini Trophy at the awards ceremony in Italy last night 👏#HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/HtlNvbBrOE

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) December 4, 2022