Haas saves $250,000 by cutting off half the pit wall

At Haas F1 they decided to save on everything to spend all the money on modernizing the car. According to the team’s calculations, if you reduce the number of management representatives on the pit wall on test days and race weekends, this measure alone will reduce costs by $250,000 per season.

For testing in Bahrain, the team brought a “captain’s bridge” with an unusually compact design, designed for only three seats. According to Günter Steiner, this idea came about when he was looking for additional ways to reallocate resources.

“When there is a need to increase efficiency, you pay attention to everything,” said the head of the US team. – But it’s not just about efficiency: where do you spend money on a limited budget if you have to invest in the development of a car? What’s more important to have six people on the pit wall or spend a quarter of a million on chassis upgrades?

I know what needs to be done, and my colleagues suggested such an idea. If I personally have to stay in the garage, I stay there with no problem. I don’t have to sit on the pit wall. There are three places there, enough to cover the issues that need fixing, so we’ve revised the usual approach. This is mainly due to saving resources that we can spend on finalizing the machine.

This is a priority, and this is the only way to increase the pace of modernization, so we try to free up as much money as possible and spend it on refining vehicles, and not spend them on a big “sleeper”. It is enough for three people to be there.”

In racing parlance, the pit wall is sometimes referred to as a “perch”, and on the first day of testing, Steiner himself was still stationed there, while team manager Pete Krolla and lead race engineer Ayo Komatsu filled the remaining two spots.

“This year we had the chance to plan things much better,” added the Haas F1 boss. – Last year everything happened late, and it was not possible to see a further prospect, because it was simply necessary to be on time for the first race. In 2023 we completed the preparations a little earlier, which allowed us to start the modernization program earlier and now we have a better thought-out plan for the introduction of new products.”