Karun Chandhok has said that Haas is a good example that new teams can be competitive form the outset when joining Formula 1.

Although Haas had a difficult season last season, the team were consistently competitive in the three seasons prior, and finished the 2018 championship fifth in the constructor’s standings, having partnered with Ferrari from a technical aspect from the team’s inception.

With F1 regulations changing in 2021 from a technical perspective, and with the introduction of a budget cap, Chandhok has said that he is “cautiously optimistic” that the changes could entice new teams in the near future, and that Haas is a good example of what can be achieved if a newcomer were to team up with a technical partner.

Speaking to media, including Last Lap at the Autosport show, Chandhock said: “I think we’re hopefully going to a set of regs where the race-ability improves, and therefore the show improves, and therefore it’s better for sponsors and for people.

“Haas is a good example of showing that a new team can arrive, and can partner with key technical partners to make their programme work, or score points at least.”

Chandhok made his debut in F1 with HRT in 2010, who were a brand new team, joining at the same time as Virgin Racing and Caterham, before moving to Team Lotus (formerly Caterham) the following year.

All three teams ended up disappearing from the grid a short time later, due to running out of money, but Chandhok believes that things have changed a lot since then, and that it would be completely different for any new team if they were to enter in the future.

“I was involved with two of [the teams that joined in 2010] and they were having to do everything from the ground up, that’s a totally different prospect,” added Chandhok.

“So yeah, I’m hoping and cautiously optimistic that we can have a couple more teams in the near future.”