Last day of testing, it's less and less until the beginning of new F1 season. In addition to the action on the track of the pilots, the interviews to the drivers and team principals. Today, to fall into the hands of Mara Sangiorgio, journalist from SkySportF1, was Günther Steiner, Haas team principal.
Günther Steiner, here are his words
The team principal of Haas talked about how these fared test and on the level that, according to him, we will see next week at the first race of the season: "These three days have gone well, we have managed to complete all our programs that we set for ourselves. In these first few months Nico [Hulkenberg] has integrated well and is giving us a big hand. The level between the teams has changed a bit since last year: certainly there are still Red Bull ahead and Classic Ferrari for sale, then Mercedes and probably Aston Martin will be close by, and then the other 6 are all close and that will make for a good fight.".
When asked what his goal will be this season, the Austrian replied as follows: “The goal this season is definitely to improve on last year's position. We finished eighth, so we're aiming for sixth or seventh".
Steiner on the engine: “We are happy with Ferrari. This year is better”
As recalled by both Mara and Carlo Vanzini, the "Achilles heel" of the Ferrari-powered ones was precisely the engine, in particular on the issue reliability. In the interview we projected ourselves to ask if, further on, there could be one split between Haas and Ferrari: "At the moment we are very comfortable with Ferrari and we have no intention of interrupting this supply. Obviously, however, the more builders arrive, the more we will have to start moving to understand what is the best option for us. There is no guarantee on this year's Ferrari engine, but we are confident because they worked hard on the tender to improve reliability".
Cars 2023: Here's what Günther thinks
The last question asked of Günther Steiner was related to new cars including the VF-23: in fact, according to him, we will see cars faster than at least according 1 compared to last season: “Compared to last year, the same test times are faster. We all understood the true potential of the cars and we will probably all be around 1 second faster than last season.". This is also demonstrated by the times recorded in these three days of testing.
ARTICLE BY: FRANCESCO ORLANDO
Source statements: sky sports f1
