MANAMA (Reuters) – The Haas Formula One team reckon they will save $250,000 in freight costs this season after slimming their pitwall perch down to a three-seater.
The U.S.-owned outfit’s new seating arrangement caught the eye among all of the attention on the 2023 cars testing in Bahrain.
Instead of the usual six or more seats in a row for key team members in front of a bank of timing screens under a canopy, the Haas setup features a modest three.
Team boss Guenther Steiner, a fan favourite for his straight-speaking approach to the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’, said he would have no problem watching from the back of the garage if necessary.
“You have six people out there or a quarter of a million on car updates?,” the Italian told reporters. “The guys came up with that idea.
“With three seats we can cover what we need to cover and we rearrange. It’s mainly a saving to put that money into development because we are at the cost cap.
“The only way to get faster is development so we try to free up as much as possible for development and not spend it on ‘prat perches’ for example, having a lot of people there.”
This season has a record 23 races, with equipment having to be flown around the world.
Teams operate under a cost cap, with Ferrari-powered Haas previously on the smallest budget but now boosted by a title sponsorship with MoneyGram and hoping to move up from last season’s eighth overall.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Kim Coghill)
