Formula 1
Haas not ruling out F1 sidepod concept change
Haas is not wedded to its in-wash sidepod concept and could follow Formula 1 rivals in switching to the Red Bull-style downwash solution.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jul 16, 2023, 11:47 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The American-owned outfit has long pursued the same sidepod design as Ferrari, which provides it with its power unit and a raft of customer parts.
But while it made complete sense to follow the same route as its partner up until now, the sidepod concept has come under the spotlight again after Ferrari made a shift towards another solution.
From the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari elected to pursue a more downwash style of design, leaving Haas as the only outfit now doing its own thing.
But while Haas says that there are advantages that come from the in-wash concept, its technical director Simone Resta has admitted that change could be on the horizon.
“Clearly the bodywork is something that is getting a lot of attention,” he said. “Formula 1 is very glamorous so yeah, I understand it.
“But if you look at the bodywork, essentially you've got the follow up part of the undercut where the style is similar between all the cars, there's some who have pushed a little bit more, some a bit less. Then there is the side part, which is very wide, and then there is the rearward part.
“In this part, we are a bit different to the others. Of course, we have been looking at things from the beginning of the regulations, so from the middle of 2021, and we thought we picked up the best option for us.
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“We keep reviewing it. We reviewed it for this year's car and we keep looking at it. We might change, we might not. Let's see.”
While a change of sidepod solution would be most likely to happen for 2024, Resta has suggested that timing wise it could still happen this season if the team finds a genuine step forward from a switch.
“We are entering into a window where it's more and more difficult to upgrade this year's car in terms of timing,” he said.
“But still, we are in July and the season will end up close to the end of the year.
“So technically there could be time to change also the complete bodywork if we think it makes the car faster.”
Ferrari’s change of sidepod design had to be undertaken with some compromises because some internal architecture and the position of side impact protection bars could not be moved.
Asked if Haas would face similar limitations with its architecture in making a switch, Resta said: “Honestly, we're not looking for excuses, we just have to improve our performance.
“We've got a good architecture of the car, we're happy with that. We just have to improve it here and there.
Read Also:
- Domenicali not changing mind on 11th F1 team
- F1 considering ‘Grand Slam’ idea for Sprint races in 2024
- Why "unusual" McLaren F1 upgrade has piqued Mercedes interest
“We could do different bodywork, different floors, different wings and stuff and move forward. We don't need excuses, we just have to build performance, develop faster, bring quickly stuff to the track that works and move forward. There's scope to do that.
“It's fair to say, though, that in terms of timing, we are close to the summer shutdown. And so therefore, you are entering into a window of time where you start to transition yourself normally to the new car. So, we are trying to spread our resources across two projects.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Domenicali not changing mind on 11th F1 team
Next article Alpine plans ‘significant’ F1 upgrade before summer break
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Haas F1 Team
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Haas justifies picking Rafael Camara over Ryo Hirakawa for F1 Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Haas justifies picking Rafael Camara over Ryo Hirakawa for F1 Brazilian GP
Latest news
Samantha Busch full speech as she accepts Kyle Busch's Most Popular Driver award
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 3 h
Samantha Busch full speech as she accepts Kyle Busch's Most Popular Driver award
Kyle Busch posthumously wins NASCAR Cup Most Popular Driver Award
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
4 h
Kyle Busch posthumously wins NASCAR Cup Most Popular Driver Award
Jamie Little will not return to NASCAR broadcast booth in 2027
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 7 h
Jamie Little will not return to NASCAR broadcast booth in 2027
Logano, Sargeant, and Muniz among Ford drivers taking part in Daytona exhibition race
General
Misc General 8 h
Logano, Sargeant, and Muniz among Ford drivers taking part in Daytona exhibition race
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe