Guenther Steiner is optimistic that Haas can make a significant leap in 2024, drawing hope from rivals McLaren and AlphaTauri.
There were various success stories in F1 this season. Unfortunately for Guenther Steiner, Haas didn’t find themselves in this category. Instead, the VF-23 proved to be an extremely uncompetitive car on Sundays, making points difficult to attain for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
Despite tyre management being a clear limitation all season, Haas F1 failed to introduce any successful updates. Their only meaningful package of 2023 was in COTA, which failed to produce any additional performance.
This was flagged as an issue by Nico Hulkenberg, whose frustration with the lack of mid-season development was clear. Looking ahead to 2024, this will surely become an area of contention again if they cannot compete for points regularly.
Guenther Steiner, however, is optimistic about his team’s chances next season. In a recent interview with Sky F1, he explained that making significant steps forward is possible:
“With the budget cap now in place, everything is possible.
“McLaren at the beginning of the season didn’t start strong, then at some stage, they were second-fastest car…
“I don’t think there are top teams, midfielders and backmarkers anymore. There are top teams and the rest – in my opinion.
“Everyone is in a good place financially. We ended up last this year, but we could end up at the top of the midfield next year.”
To some extent, Formula 1 is becoming increasingly competitive across the field. Although Red Bull was dominant this season, the chasing pack was very evenly matched throughout.
A total of six teams finished on the podium in 2023 – with five of them featuring on a relatively regular basis. In some ways, this shows what 2024 could produce in terms of competition among the top teams.
Even ignoring the top 10 teams, qualifying was often defined by very fine margins. Even Haas, Williams and AlphaTauri were often competitive in Q1 sessions – punishing the front-runners who executed their laps poorly.
However, Haas is more limited than most teams in terms of capacity for development. Steiner has admitted previously that Ferrari’s progress will directly impact his own team’s 2024 package – essentially giving his team an external locus of control.
In this sense, there are doubts about how the US team will start next season – let alone whether they can meaningfully improve as it unfolds.
