Among the various issues that need to be addressed in terms of the post-2020 regulations is that of B-teams. A number of the current participants are unhappy not only at the increasing use of 'satellite teams' that allow the bigger constructors to share technology and also give them additional political clout, but also the example of Haas in running a car that is built by another company (Dallara) along with a whole host of Ferrari parts.

The objection to what is being called the 'Haas model' comes from a number of teams, not least Renault, Williams and Racing Point, the French manufacturer particularly vociferous on the subject.

F1 technical boss, Ross Brawn, whose own championship winning team, which subsequently morphed into Mercedes, could trace its own ancestry back to Tyrrell, whose first seasons in F1 were contested with a Matra and then a March, is a fan of the 'Haas model'.

"The Haas model is interesting," he told Sky Sports. "It has been very successful and it's something we have to maintain for the future, for it to be possible for a small team to be able to come in and be pretty respectable.

"There is some trimming we need to do to what they have been able to do," he admitted, "(but) I don't see a big change in the Haas model."

However, he agreed that "we need to make sure we remove the doubt some teams have about their co-operation with the big team, which is Ferrari. We need to make sure it's well defined and everyone knows what you can and can't do.

"There are grey areas we need clarity on. Haas is a good model, we don't want to spoil it, but we want to make sure of its place in F1."

While Haas team boss Guenther Steiner is delighted to hear he has Brawn's - and thereby Formula One Management's - support, he knows that this isn't for altruistic reasons but rather the fact that the 'Haas model' is a way to encourage new teams to enter the sport.

"I wouldn't say they are looking after us," says Steiner. "I would rephrase that; they are looking after Formula 1. It is a bigger picture than us or another team.

"We are all egotistic obviously and somebody is a referee," he continued, "and they need to look after the business that we have enough teams here that can fight at an equal level. If you have got three teams that are two seconds ahead, then you have got teams that are two or three seconds behind and another group of people who are two or three seconds behind them, what fun is that? How long can that exist?

"We need to close the gap and that is one of the ways to do it. If people like it or not they just need to do a better job. Then we are fine."

Indeed, the line about teams needing to "do a better job" was used in Bahrain by Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost, when asked about B-teams.

"If someone, who runs a manufacturer team is complaining that the small teams are faster and better than him, then he hasn't simply done his homework in a proper way," said the Austrian, "because we at a Toro Rosso, we have from Red Bull Racing the gearbox from last year, the rear suspension from last year and parts from the front suspension - most of the front suspension we've anyway done ourselves.

"So, the reason why Toro Rosso is so competitive is mainly because of the fantastic power unit which we have from Honda," he added. "It seems that others are not doing such a good job and therefore they should not complain and whingeing around. They just should do their job. We have a good package together with the car, fantastic drivers and a fantastic power unit from Honda, that's the reason why we are competitive."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Paul C, 08/04/2019 20:08

"Haas and even Toro Rosso are in many ways the new "Vanwall" teams. Vanwall used a customer (?) Ferrari to demonstrate the superiority of their engine parts. Honestly Williams could use a lot of help from Mercedes to present their Power Unit in a better light."

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2. Posted by imejl99, 08/04/2019 12:51

"I don`t get it, really, it was never close. Never ever. Actually, we could argue that it is closer now than ever.

Randomly:
1979 Dutch GP, 1st 75 laps, 2nd +21.7, 3rd +1:03.2
1986 Hungarian GP 1st 76 laps, 2nd +17.6, 3rd +1 lap
1986 British GP, 1st 75 laps, 2nd +5.6, 3rd +1 lap
1992 German GP, 1st 45 laps, 2nd +4.5, 3rd +34.4
1998 Italian GP, 1st 53 laps, 2nd +37.9, 3rd +41.1
2005 Spanish GP, 1st 66 laps, 2nd +27.6, 3rd +45.9
2012 Belgian GP, 1st 44 laps, 2nd +13.6, 3rd +25.3

"

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Brawn in favour of 'Haas model'

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