David Richards and Gary Anderson join Natalie Pinkham for this week's F1 Midweek Report
Wednesday 2 December 2015 20:38, UK
Haas face a 'rude awakening' when they join the F1 grid in 2016, this week's F1 Midweek Report guests have warned.
The newcomers, who are being assisted by Ferrari for their entry onto the grid, have spoken optimistically of being competitive in their first year of the sport.
While incoming driver Romain Grosjean has warned "I have a feeling we could be a bit of a surprise for a lot of people", Haas boss Guenther Steiner is targeting a finish of seventh or eighth in the Constructors' Championship for the team in 2016.
But despite their close working relationship with Ferrari, former BAR chief David Richards and ex-Force India Technical Director are wary about Haas's prospects.
"Teams come into F1 with expectations, and Haas have all this help from Ferrari, but when they arrive for that first race, it is a very different matter altogether. It's quite a rude awakening," Richards warned.
Anderson, meanwhile, voiced his concern about how little is known about the team ahead of their debut season, with their new car due to be on track in less than three months' time for pre-season testing at Barcelona.
"It's December now and the first test is at the end of February, but we haven't seen anything yet," he noted. "We haven't seen the little snippet picture you normally see of a wind tunnel model. I haven't really heard of a group of people behind it all either. It's been a very quiet and they definitely have a rude awakening about what F1 is coming up."
Meanwhile, Richards, who has been linked with a making a frontline return to F1 with either Force India or Manor, speaks disarmingly about his prospects of returning full-time to the pinnacle of motorsport and the realities of life on the road with the world's most global sport.
