Haas is prepared to stand by Ferrari as their engine supplier out of “loyalty”, team boss Guenther Steiner says.
The American outfit has been a partner of the Scuderia even before they joined the grid as a team back in 2016, and when they did, Haas adopted the controversial approach of buying in as many listed parts as they could from Maranello.
This season, however, being associated with Ferrari has become somewhat of a burden as their power unit has taken a huge step back in performance, leaving themselves and Alfa Romeo struggling to score points.
“I believe in loyalty and Gene [Haas, team owner] does too,” Steiner told Motorsport.com last week.
“They have played a significant role in our arrival, they have done well in that regard. Now they are having a hard time, we know that, but I hope these are short term problems. They will fix it. Ferrari always comes back.
“To take the first opportunity and jump off the ship is not ethical. We wouldn’t be here without Ferrari, so I’ll stick with that.”
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While that sounds very gracious of Haas, another key reason why they in many ways have to remain with the Italian brand is the impact changing suppliers would have.
“We have to see what opportunities there are, but in that case, it is a lot more difficult because part of our infrastructure is set up in Italy,” Steiner explained.
“We then have to move to England and that is not a cheap job. At the moment it is the best solution for us to work hard on the future together with Ferrari.
“But if there is a manufacturer who wants to supply us with a power unit for free, we are certainly open to that!”
Haas, however, could be in for an injection of funds amid rumours that Russian billionaire Dmitry Mazepin has eyed the team as his next potential investment.
In response, a spokesperson was quoted as saying Haas “is not for sale”.