Haas has explained why only Oliver Bearman has received an upgraded Ferrari power unit at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
As part of the ADUO upgrades to power units, Ferrari must provide its upgrades to its customer teams, with the new spec engine having been available to customer team Haas since Barcelona.
Haas initially had planned to wait until the upgrade could be applied to both Bearman and teammate Esteban Ocon, but Haas has confirmed Bearman is running the Italian GP with the new specification.
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu confirmed the reason behind the decision, and elaborated on the rules surrounding ADUO boosted power units.
“Customers need to have ‘A’ unit,” he said to media at Monza.
“The last time around we didn’t [give it to one driver]; we waited until we had enough engines to introduce it for both drivers together. But this time, Monza is a very power-sensitive circuit, so it’s a shame to have performance sitting in a garage, right?
“It would have been better if two engines were available at least, but Ferrari’s pushing like hell to get as much performance on the engine as possible. Of course, they want to introduce it at Monza, right? But that means they got the minimum quantity, so it is just to satisfy the regulation.”
Why Ollie Bearman recieved upgrades
Komatsu confirmed the decision had been taken in the team’s best interest, believing that it was Bearman’s turn to receive an upgrade based on Ocon being given priority in Budapest.
“It’s not an aerodynamic upgrade, like items we had such as a CI brakes test, and Esteban was struggling more with brakes, so considering the Montreal upgrade we gave to Ollie, we decided to give the brake upgrade to Esteban first, and in terms of the power steering, we had another upgrade in Budapest.
“We decided to give that to Esteban because he was more vocal about it and he was struggling more on the power steering, so the last upgrade we gave to Esteban, and this time, it was Ollie.
“There’s no point bullshitting, right? We operate as transparently as possible, and of course you can’t please everyone every time, but we don’t have any hidden agenda.
“We don’t have any personal agenda for one driver or another. So we’ve been building that relationship. Perhaps of course, Esteban won’t be happy not to get the power unit number four straight away. But this is the best for the team, and then this is the fairest way you can do it.
“But then nothing is completely fair, right? So all you can do is be transparent and upfront about it.”
Haas’ candid admission of the rationale behind Bearman’s prioritisation of an engine upgrade gives insight into how something as simple as receiving a car part can have political ramifications.
Komatu and Haas will no doubt be aiming for points with the increased power.
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