Haas is planning to modify its pontoons, inspired by Ferrari’s design, for Red Bull’s concept

Haas is currently 8th in the constructor’s championship with 11 points, tied with Williams. While the American team often struggles in races due to their lack of pace and subsequently scores few points this season, they have nonetheless made some significant progress.

Since its arrival in Formula 1, Haas has heavily drawn inspiration from Ferrari, their partner team, from whom they purchase the engine, gearbox, as well as many other mechanical and digital components.

However, starting from this year, the situation could change. Seeing McLaren and Williams drastically improve their car after getting closer to Red Bull’s concept, the American team is tempted to do the same. Simone Resta, the technical director of Haas, has admitted that Haas’ side pods, inspired by Ferrari, could « change » in the future.

« If you look at the design of the sidepods, you essentially have the lower part where the style is similar across all cars, some have pushed it a little further, others a little less. Then there’s the wide side section, and finally the exit (rear part). In this section, we are a bit different from the others. Of course, we have studied things since the beginning of the regulations, so starting from the middle of 2021, we thought we had chosen the best option,” said the technical director of the Haas team, admitting at the same time that the current concept is not the best.

Waiting until 2024 to change the concept?

Changing during the season or waiting until 2024 is the main question that arises in the minds of the engineers at Haas. But for now, the team remains undecided about changing the philosophy of the car. We continue to review the situation. We did it for this year’s car and we continue to examine it. We could change, we could not change. We’ll see,” said Simone Resta.

However, despite this uncertainty, the technical director of Haas believes that if the team needs to change the sidepods in order to improve performance, there should be no hesitation in doing so this season. However, it will be necessary to be certain that this change will lead to a gain.

« We are entering a period where it is increasingly difficult to improve this year’s car in terms of the schedule. It is July, and the season will end towards the end of the year. Technically, we could therefore have time to change the entire bodywork if we believe it will make the car faster,” explained Resta.

Haas is in the running for 7th place in the Constructors’ Championship, a result that would please the men of the modest American team. But they will still need to beat Williams, Alfa Romeo, and be wary of the potential return of AlphaTauri. The Haas team suffers from a lack of race pace, and this change in sidepods could be one of the solutions to counter this problem.