F1 | Haas kept targeted by Red Bull and Williams. Minardi “A dangerous game"

Haas is surely the wonder team of this seasonal start. In the first two Grand Prixs, the Us group managed to gather 18 points thanks to Romain Grosjena and his fifth and sixth place in Bahrain and in Australian at the opening race. A booty that put the stable in the fifth place, behind Red Bull and just at two lengths from Williams. Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen have the same points. A prize list that could have been greater without the double zero of Guttierez who slowed down due to some troubles in Sakhir and by a contact suffered from Fernando Alonso in Melbourne.

As Gian Carlo Minardi had anticipated in his post-race clip “We are entering a dangerous arena for F1. They are rewriting the “Constructors” meaning“, Christian Horner and Pat Symonds feel themselves threatened and condemn this new kind of F1.“In Sakhir they raced fast and their strategy worked very well. The VF-16 is fast and solid. Last year model of Ferrari looks still very competitive” the Red Bull team principal lampoons them. “If we do the same of Haas, F1 will be less and less prerogative of constructors and frame makers. Undoubtely, they have done very well and legally acted. Anyway, is this the right way? I am not sure”, the technical director of williams says.

An opinion shared with the manager from Faenza who analyzes what happened last Sunday, after the grand prix where Grosjean ended ahead of Verstappen and his Toro Rosso, Kviat and his Red Bull and the two Williams. “If our future is having three or four constructors/frame makers, the World Championship should be opened only to them. I don’t find fair to split the royalties cake also with the assemblers. In this moment, Haas team is not a constructor because has too many changeable pieces”.Nothing new, anyway, since we had this scenario already in 2005. “At first, the stable of Toro Rosso was a Red Bull clone. Then Williams, quoted at the stock exchange, made actual the definition of constructor and that of intellectual property. A step back was made, and, with some difficulties, they became again independent“.

“Ferrari, anyway, has been very good at playing with the gaps in regulations and has made very valuable choices, that on paper, could open new scenarios with Sauber and Force India destined to disappear because they are no longer marketable. With the assemblers’ entrance, the value of a team as a constructor deteriorates. Instead, Mercedes could strenghten its cooperation with Manor, whereas Red Bull will have to find a constructor.” Minardi continues confirming what anticipated us last months, “They have always declared they are in F1 to win. So, I am quite sure that they are now looking around”.