Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner says his side can fight for podium positions in the coming years, after securing a major new benefactor for 2023 and beyond. It was revealed before the United States Grand Prix that Haas had signed a multi-year deal for cross-border money transfer service MoneyGram to be the team's new title sponsor. Since entering F1 in 2016, Haas have never finished in the top three of a Grand Prix, with their best result being Romain Grosjean's fourth place in Austria in 2018. The North Carolina-based outfit also suffered the ignominy of finishing bottom of the Constructors' Championship in 2021 without scoring a single point. However, speaking at a press conference announcing the partnership, Steiner said the influx of MoneyGram funds would help to propel Haas up the standings, and ensure that F1's only American team is in a position to fight for podium places in the near future. "With this deal, I think we make that step that in a few years, we can fight for podiums,' Steiner told media including RacingNews365.com . "I'm not promising for next year, because we just came back from two years which were very bad for us. "We cooperated well and we will continue to improve, but it will take time, we are realistic. "I don't want to send out messages [about] what we are going to win, but I think this is the step to the next level for Haas F1, where we can really fight with other people at the same level."
Haas' chequered history with title sponsors
In their time in F1, Haas have signed deals with two previous title sponsors, both of which ended prematurely. A multi-year deal with Rich Energy in 2019 was terminated at that year's Italian Grand Prix, after the controversial energy drink company cited a need to revise their global strategy. With the team struggling for cash heading into the 2021 season, Haas signed a sponsorship deal with Russian chemical firm Uralkali, which also obliged the team to take on driver Nikita Mazepin, son of Uralkali owner Dmitry Mazepin. This partnership was set to continue into 2022, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctioning of both Dmitry and Nikita Mazepin by the European Union saw the deal cancelled after the first pre-season test at Barcelona. Mazepin's seat at Haas was taken by returnee Kevin Magnussen, who promptly scored Haas' best result for three years by coming home fifth at the season opener in Bahrain.
Most read
