F1 news: Haas fire back at Fernando Alonso’s 'Ferrari replica' claim with strong put down
HAAS have strongly denied Fernando Alonso’s claim they have a “Ferrari replica” in the F1 paddock this season.
Alonso led the calls from a number of teams who have questioned the legitimacy of Haas’ VF18 car.
The McLaren driver expressed his surprise that Haas locked out the third row in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
There are claims the car, which uses Ferrari engines, is a replica of last season’s Ferrari SF71H model.
Teams are strictly forbidden from exchanging chassis and aerodynamics designs.
But Haas had hit back, with team boss Guenther Steiner claiming rival teams are calling foul to justify their own “incompetence”.
“They see ghosts,” Steiner told the BBC.
If you have to justify your incompetence, attack is the best defence
“(They say): ‘The car looks very similar to a Ferrari from last year.’
“So should we have copied their car, which is behind us, or should we go with a car that goes pretty quick?
“Give me an answer to that.”
He added: “If you have to justify your incompetence, attack is the best defence.
“If somebody has double the amount of money and is behind us, whoever owns the team should be asking, ‘what are we doing here?’
“It’s competition. Maybe next year we are last. When you speak, you need to have an argument you can back up, not just assumptions.”
Steiner did admit that there are similarities between the Haas and Ferrari cars - but only because they share the same suspension.
“We have got the same (wheelbase) as Ferrari," he said.
"We have to because we have the same suspension – why would we do it different?
“It’s logic. So it cannot be last year’s Ferrari because it has the same wheelbase as this year’s Ferrari.
“My point is, if they have got a problem with that, I show them the way to the FIA. They can file a protest.”
McLaren’s Zak Brown was another who spoke out about the Haas car, claiming: “We all know they have a very close alliance with Ferrari and I think we just need to make sure it’s not too close.
“There could be some influence, there’s certainly some parts of the car that look very similar to last year’s car.
“But that’s for the engineers and the FIA to look at more closely.”