Haas Will Race Updated 2024 Formula 1 Car this Season
Jan.21 - Many Formula 1 teams will effectively race 2024-specification cars this season, according to Haas' technical boss.
Andrea De Zordo, who took over from the Mercedes-bound Simone Resta early last year, admitted to Italian outlet Formula Passion that Haas will use the same chassis in 2025 - and much of the existing bodywork as well.
The Italian also thinks other teams will take the same route "and we would be surprised if they didn't".
Some teams, notably top players including Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull, have emphasised that even though the huge technical revolution for 2026 is looming, they will still unveil substantially modified cars this year.
But de Zordo says it's a different story for the smaller teams like Haas.
"The challenge for 2026 is extremely big and we need to somehow save elsewhere, not only financially but also in terms of our own resources," he confirmed.
Some see the massive chassis and power unit regulations overhaul for 2026 as a shame, given how tightly contested last year's world championship was.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali admits 2026 is unlikely to be an ultra-competitive season in the sport's history.
"With new regulations it is always like that," he told Italy's Autosprint magazine.
"But I won't forget that when the rules for 2022 were introduced, the teams complained that the cars would be six seconds slower," he smiled.
"We then saw the field coming together in recent years. In 2026 we'll start again with fresh rules, which means a lot of challenges and lots of things we can work on. I do expect the field to spread out again at first, but then everyone will come together again. The cars are designed for that," added Domenicali.
"So I'm not worried. We have to look at the big picture, not individual details. It is normal that there is a conservative approach from the teams, but we have to think big. Yes, problems will certainly arise. But new designers will also join the sport, helped by these technical changes.
"We want to maintain the evolutionary and positive tension for competitors who see our Formula 1 as a development platform for the future."
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Physically not the case, though, as teams always build new cars from scratch for each season even within stable technical regulations, except in some particular circumstance cases such as Red Bull B-team & Super Aguri back when customer cars were allowed, & beyond that point, Manor in 2015 when they used the previous-season machinery with some safety modifications, & all teams in 2021 using modified or essentially detuned 2020 cars.
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