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Why a closer partnership between Ferrari and Haas might benefit both teams?

Formula One has been a number of closely linked team partnerships, the relationship between Red Bull and Alpha Tauri is a prime example.

Ferrari and HAAS are two teams that really struggled during the 2020 season and will both want to be making improvements going into the 2021 season, with both having at least one new driver.

Sebastian Vettel has left the Italian team and moved to Aston Martin, and in his place is McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who will partner Charles Leclerc.

HAAS is in a tricky situation at the moment in regard to Nikita Mazepin’s seat with the team. He is currently still a HAAS driver for next season, but rumours are growing that he will be replaced by Pietro Fittipaldi who replaced the injured Romain Grosjean for the final two races of the season after his horrific crash in Bahrain.

Mick Schumacher will lead the team next season on the back of winning the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, with the M. Schumacher name back on the grid, something that has excited Formula One fans.

But why will this new partnership help both teams?

Ferrari is the most successful team in Formula One and has a lot of money to spend. The new budget cap will affect that but the money they bring into the team through sponsorships will cover the costs that some other teams will need to take out of their budget for F1 despite it not being included in the budget cap.

They will be able to directly compare the performance of both cars as the HAAS car is more typically found near the back of the grid, with the Ferrari normally fighting for podiums but 2020 showed that they can’t take their foot off the gas otherwise they will slip down the grid.

The main reason for this is due to Ferrari trying to reposition members of staff that would have to be let go due to the budget cap. Simone Resta, who was Ferrari’s Head of Chasis engineering has already been moved to HAAS in a yet unspecified role.

Teams in F1 are not allowed to share ideas for cars, and there has been a clear message from Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto that the staff members that move to the new HAAS base will have no access to Scuderia Ferrari and they will work solely for HAAS.

The team members that move from Ferrari to HAAS won’t have to take time away from the sport before making the switch, so they will know how the 2021 car has been developed and can help to point HAAS in the correct direction.

Although there won’t be a sharing of ideas in terms of car development, both teams having close proximity to each other in Maranello will lead to closer ties in terms of marketing and filming, and potentially open the path for Mick Schumacher to join Ferrari in the future if he can perform well for the American team.