Haas Maserati

Yep... coming soon. FCA is wanting to get more bang for it's marketing buck in supplying F1 teams with engines.

http://www.planetf1.com/news/haas-linked-with-maserati-partnership-report/

 

Another case of badge engineering and avoiding FIA rules about sharing technology.

 

Well, not quite. Dallara makes the Chassis for Haas and Sauber makes their own.

How can it be sharing when all three teams had the same engine before anyway? I agree its "just marketing" but is that wrong? Is it wrong the engine in the RB was labeled Tag Heuer and not Renault?

 

Yes

 

Well, all rightee then!

Actually I don't think it's wrong. It's advertising. Advertising is what makes the sport possible. No advertising, no racing.

The Chevy Indy engine is not made by Chevy. Never has been.

 

If they can benefit from Maserati engineering then that's great. Maser has always been more of an engineering firm with a wide array of talents, but not for their horrid luck and horrid management post the 60s. I am a fan so I hope il Tridente makes it

 

So I have a couple of questions

Who exactly makes the Indy/ Chevy engines
And
Isn't Maserati and Ferrari basically one in the same ? How would the technology be any different?

 

Ilmor Engineering makes Chevy's Indy engines.

You mean the F1 engine? Ferrari is just rebranding their F1 engine as Alfa Romeo and Maserati. It's the same engine. However, in the past, Ferrari would get the latest updated engine and Sauber and Toro Rosso would come later.

 

This is similar to the Lotus-Renault car a few seasons ago. I enjoyed hearing the name Lotus while watching Formula One.

I wound up buying a lot of Lotus/Kimi F1 merchandise while in London a few years ago. So yes, the advertising works.

IMHO

 

Isn’t it that Haas get the very latest engine less a few trick modes (like Mercedes and Williams etc) whereas Sauber get the previous generation?, thought I had read something like that

 

What I could see happening is the Maser or Alfa cars get even more radical updates that might be too risky for the Ferrari team. It's possible one of them could get the latest stuff before Ferrari does. After all, it's better if an Alfa dies than a Ferrari and if the Alfa shows good speed, it's still good for FCA.

 

Good point, it would make sense, presumably with one development or so, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the Alfa would beat the works cars anyway as they should be significantly better, but they could measure the overall effect of a development and then apply it to the ferrari once reliable, regaining the short term gain from the Alfa at no risk....... you should be team manager as well as mayor!

 

I don't have a problem with branding such as Lotus did but I think that in the case of Ferrari / Alfa and Maserati it makes perfect sense to have a team with each brand but all having a Ferrari engine. That is exactly how they have done it in the past for the street cars as you know: The Ferrari 430 V8 where also availible in Alfa 8C and Maserati 4200 & Quattroporte. In addition there are other cooperations between the brands to develop and produce som specific models such as Alfa Giulia Quadrofoglio for instance.
My worrie would be that they (i.e FCA) spend to much money and effort in just one motorsport rather than spreading the brands to target different sports an audiences. I would like to see more of Alfa in touring car racing such as TCR/WTCR/BTCC/DTM and Maserati in GT racing and / or Le Mans for instance.


Skickat från min iPhone med FerrariChat

 

Good point Matfo. The Germans would love to see Alfa return to DTM. But now, its getting the FCA image out there (Ferrari isn't part of FCA any longer). And Maserati and Alfa have to be better than the rest. They also have to out perform Toyota and BMW in the constructors championship.

 

Probably putting some stickers in a Sauber is a lot more inexpensive than setting a competitive DTM team.

 

Would Marchionne pay more for Maserati or Alfa sponsorships?

 

Maserati is selling better margin cars than Alfa Romeo, so can afford it.

 

One thing we can say for sure.

The Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands have a special place in the history of F1. Its not like label slapping "Kia" on a Mercedes engine or something. Historically both Alfa and Maserati have earned their names in Formula one.

As did Mercedes when it came back into racing by absorbing Brawn. We all celebrated a great historical marque returning to F1 then.

 

Mercedes had been supplying Ilmor built engines to McLaren and, well Sauber back in the early 1990's. If you look at Sauber's history it was the semi official works Mercedes team for many years. TAG had Porsche built and designed engines in the 1980's so nothing new. If anything F1 should pay FCA to do this as it will bring in more fans. Just don't let them attend a race and find out how bad the new cars sound(or have them attend an Eformula race first)

 

Same here because it was Lotus.....................

 

DECEMBER 14, 2017

Haas puts team expansion plans on hold


The American team Haas says it has put on hold any plans to expand.

Team boss Gunther Steiner said that despite the reputation that the second year is harder for a F1 team, he is impressed with how Haas went in 2017.

"I would not have expected that we are so stable in all areas," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

"Only after the first year are you aware of the level required to put it all together, but we met all of our expectations," Steiner added.

Haas finished eighth overall this year, only ahead of McLaren and Sauber but not far behind Toro Rosso and Renault.

But Steiner said that because of Haas' small size, it makes little sense to make lofty plans to expand the team while Liberty Media contemplates a budget cap for 2021.

"Before we continue to grow, we need to know at what level the budget cap would be. It makes no sense to enlarge the team now and then reduce staff again in 2021," he insisted.

 

That's a strange comment, I would imagine the gap is so wide between Haas and the top teams, they could significantly grow without any risk of needing to downgrade in 2021...
If Haas double their budget it would still be less than half he budget of a top team, so they would only be impacted by a budget cap lowering the current top teams expenses by more than 50%; I do not think it's very likely to happen.

 

I certainly hope that both Alfa and Maserati have the same PUs that Ferrari gets, current updates and all. If Ferrari can't beat Sauber and Hass with equal power, then maybe they will try harder. Competing against teams with identical PUs can only help development. It is like drivers on the same team being compared to one another.

 

It's turning into spec racing.

 

Yes but it is really expensive spec racing.