Formula 1: Teams call for FIA investigation of Haas/Ferrari partnership

Following the impressive showing of Haas in the 2018 Formula 1 season opener in Australia, several teams have called for an investigation.

Haas opened up the 2018 Formula 1 season, their third season in the sport, with both of their drivers qualifying in the top 7 in the Australian Grand Prix and starting in the top 6 following a penalty that was issued to Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.

This surprising result in qualifying for the team came after two straight seasons, the team’s first two seasons in the sport, during which they finished in 8th place in the constructor standings and never had any of their drivers finish a single race in a position higher than 5th place.

Kevin Magnussen started the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix around the 16-turn, 3.295-mile street circuit in 5th place after qualifying in 6th, and Romain Grosjean started the race in 6th after qualifying in 7th.

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In the first turn following the start of the race, Magnussen passed Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen for 4th place, and he was able to hold on to that position. Grosjean passed Verstappen for 5th when Verstappen spun out several laps following the start of the race.

Haas looked like the third best team on the grid behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and Scuderia Ferrari, and they looked poised to secure their best two Formula 1 finishes in team history. While things didn’t pan out for the team and both Magnussen and Grosjean were forced to retire due to wheel issues after making their pit stops, the speed of the team in the first race of the season compared to the speed they had throughout each of the last two seasons has caused other teams to call for an FIA investigation.

Here is what Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer had to say about the matter following the race, according to WTF1.

"“I don’t know how they do it, it’s magic. It’s never been done before in Formula 1. I just don’t know how it can be right that someone who’s been in the sport for a couple of years with no resource could produce a car like this…does it happen by magic? If it does, I want the wand.“All the aerodynamic surfaces have to be your own. If they’re not, I don’t know how you can tell unless you start investigating. Scrutineering only tells you that it fits within the boxes of the regulations. Is it yours or somebody else’s? That’s the real question. And I don’t know the answer to that.“Maybe it is their own, it’s just suspect – how can you gain that knowledge without history and the right tools and people?”"

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso also stated that the 2018 Haas car is a “Ferrari replica” of last year before the Australian Grand Prix took place. Here is what McLaren executive director Zak Brown had to say about the matter more recently, according to Motorsport.com.

"“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.”"

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Will there end up being an FIA investigation into the partnership between Haas and Ferrari? If so, will anything illegal be found? The next Formula 1 race is set to take place on Sunday, April 8th. That race is the Bahrain Grand Prix and is set to be held at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It is set to be broadcast live starting at 11:10 am ET on ESPN2 on that date. How will the two Haas drivers perform?

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