
The end of the current Concorde agreement gave team boss Gene Haas the opportunity to evaluate his involvement in sport beyond this year.
Clearly, given the loss of income for all teams as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Haas F1’s poor form along the way, there was a clear chance he would cut his losses and abandon the program. Ultimately, he decided to sign the new Concorde and thus guarantee the team a future in sport.
“We survived, we did it right,” said Steiner when asked about the team’s assessment of the season. “I think I’ll leave it at that. I think there was a great chance we weren’t here anymore and I think everyone pulled together and we’re here to stay.
“I think all in all we may not have been good on the track this year, but I think we were good for the future of Haas F1 and also for F1 because as much as we think they are” I think “F1 doesn’t need us, I think F1 needs teams like Haas F1.”
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Steiner admitted that he was looking forward to the end of the season, when 17 races were compressed into five and a half months after a late start.
“Yesterday I was actually on the plane from Frankfurt with some drivers,” he remarked. “And they said we really enjoyed it. I said you guys get points, I would enjoy it too, but we have a tough season as a team, a tough season as F1 in general.
“I’m not unhappy that it’s going to end soon. Everyone is a bit tired. A triple header at the end is definitely not what the guys want, even so shortly before Christmas.
“We’re still pretty happy to have had a season at all. It’s a blessing that it’s ending, but it’s also a blessing that we’ve had something to do this year.”
Steiner admitted that the last three races, which are slated for quarantine in Abu Dhabi, with the entire paddock being assigned to hotels near the Yas Island venue, pose difficult logistical issues.
“Formula 1 is always pretty good at adapting to difficulties and challenges,” he said. “The thing with Abu Dhabi, we have mandated hotels and we have a quarantine on Yas Island that came only two or three weeks ago. And we had to change our plans.
“It’s just another day in the office. I think there’s a lot of work in it, but you always make it. That means that good people work here.
“But for me, I just want to make sure that the whole team can get through the last three weeks, the last three races, without the pandemic affecting us. I hope so and we will try to do that.”
Steiner praised the Formula 1 organization for having an almost full calendar under the difficult circumstances, but emphasized that the teams had also made their contribution.
“It was amazing that they did it,” he said. “After Australia this thing seemed to be over pretty soon and it wasn’t, it kept going and every day was a new day of bad news.
“I think it’s great to do 17 races that the FOM did it, but the same goes for the teams that did it, all 10 teams.
“It’s hard to explain, but after Australia we didn’t know what to expect. We thought this was going to be over pretty soon, and it wasn’t. I think you did the right things.
“We had a very interesting season in terms of sport, everything was good, except that we didn’t have any spectators there and we don’t have enough income.
“We kept the sport going and the sport didn’t have a bad year, I wouldn’t say a good year, but it wasn’t a bad year, it could have been a lot worse. I think it was a great job of all of them People from FOM to do all these races. “
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