Bernie Ecclestone says the secret to the success of the new Haas Formula One team is its relationship with Italian team Ferrari which supplies its engines and other crucial parts. The team is owned by American tycoon Gene Haas and stormed to fifth place in the standings at Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Driver Romain Grosjean finished sixth giving Haas eight points and making it the first outfit to score in its debut race in 14 years. It finished the race ahead of F1 luminaries like McLaren and Renault and Ecclestone says there is good reason for this. “That car is basically a Ferrari. It will perform because it’s a Ferrari. It’s a Ferrari second team,” he says. To be eligible to compete in F1, a team must be a "constructor," which means that it must design and manufacture certain key parts of its cars itself. This makes each team’s cars unique and places special emphasis on their technological capabilities and innovative prowess. It also distinguishes F1 from many other motorsport series that use identical cars. There is no suggestion that Haas has broken any of F1’s rules, as it simply took advantage of a new regulation which allows teams to buy more parts than before from established F1 marques. Buying in more parts reduces start-up costs and Haas is using a chassis made by Italian manufacturer Dallara with engines, brakes, suspension uprights, pedal boxes, steering racks and fuel cells understood to be coming from Ferrari. Ferrari doesn’t just benefit from the relationship by being paid for its equipment as it gets feedback too. It signed the deal with Haas in 2014 during a torrid season when it changed its team boss twice in a bid for victory. Its most recent championship win was in 2007 so the more help it can get, the better and Haas could be a useful ally. “I think Ferrari has got some questions,” said Haas in 2014. “I hope we can provide value to them. If all of a sudden there are four cars that have some information exchange back and forth that would probably be beneficial so both teams can do a little bit better.” It is similar to the relationship between four-time champions Red Bull Racing and sister team Toro Rosso, which is also owned by the energy drinks company. Buying in parts from Ferrari mitigated risk for Haas and the team also benefited from having a longer start-up period than expected. It was originally due to launch last year but delayed its entry to 2016. This enabled it to cut costs further by snapping up equipment from the Marussia team which folded at the end of 2014. Haas took over the team’s factory in the UK and poached key staff from it and its rivals. They included Marussia’s team manager Dave O’Neill, who now occupies the same role at Haas, chief mechanic Stuart Cramp, formerly of Caterham, and chief race engineer Ayao Komatsu, who came from Lotus. Haas’ team principal Guenther Steiner has a long history in F1 and was technical operations director at Red Bull Racing. He also benefited from the delay as it gave his team more time to test without restriction. This is because it didn’t have to sign up to the F1 regulations until late last year. In an interview last year Steiner claimed that Haas is more than just a junior to Ferrari. “There is no plan to be their B-team and to do whatever they want. That’s not the plan,” he said.

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