'White Ferrari' saga now rolls on in Imola
Apr.22 - Gunther Steiner is defiant in the face of a group of rival teams who are pushing the FIA to take action against Haas' 'white Ferrari' car for 2022.
The small American team's boss this week said FIA inspectors were welcome to visit the team at any time to probe accusations of the way it is working with technology partner Ferrari this year.
"Haas has made a big leap from last place," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Kurier newspaper. "An interesting step."
Alfa Romeo chief Frederic Vasseur insists he has "confidence in the FIA" to look into the matter, while McLaren's Andreas Seidl goes a step further to suggest that "intellectual property" may have changed hands.
The German even wants a ban on teams using the same wind tunnel.
"As soon as you allow that, there will also be a transfer of intellectual property to the other car," said Seidl.
"It makes B-teams overly competitive compared to teams like us, while also benefiting the A-teams, which is even more concerning for us."
However, Haas is defiant.
The team's German driver Mick Schumacher, who is also the official reserve at Ferrari this year, told Bild newspaper: "If we had copied Ferrari, the FIA would intervene."
Haas team boss Steiner, meanwhile, aimed fire at McLaren's outspoken Seidl.
"Fortunately, Andreas is not running the FIA," he said.
"Some people think they can change everything just by opening their mouths, but thankfully it doesn't work like that."
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What a bunch of cry babies and whiners. Mercedes knocked off at Force India with the pink Mercedes. Copying Ferrari got McLaren a $100 million fine in years past. Shut up and drive! Make a better car this is Formula 1 the top class. You hire the best so put your heads down and build the best.
Ah, but the pink Mercedes’ was different - it was an imitation of a previous car. So Mercedes themselves couldn’t be incriminated. Are we supposed to believe Haas came up with the same radical philosophy as Ferrari in the same season? That’s very different.
Who knows what goes on behind closed doors
FIA at fault if the stories are found to bear fruit
Funny how an also ran is up in the points and matching better cars.
Did Urakali millions make that much difference?
The highly respected Fia inspectors will no doubt get to the bottom of all this, said a Mercedes representative .
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