Steiner: FIA won't find that we have a copied car

Haas have always had strong links with Ferrari, as the U.S. team adopted a different approach when joining F1 back in 2016, with their chassis designed and supplied by Dallara, while they buy as many parts as they can under the regulations from Ferrari. Haas also use the Ferrari wind tunnel in Maranello.

This year, with Haas coming up with a handy car in the form of the VF22, scoring points in two of the first three races of the season, the team's ties to Ferrari have come under scrutiny by other competitors.

Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer, knows a thing or two about copying an F1 car from his days as Racing Point team principal, as his team famously copied Mercedes' 2019 car when producing their RP20 for the 2020 season, which was dubbed the pink Mercedes at the time.

Renault protested the car's legality at the time with the FIA ruling its brake ducts were copied imposing a hefty fine of € 400,000 on Racing Point while 15 championship points were deducted from their tally, which ultimately cost them third in the Constructors' that year.

But Szafnauer has voiced his concerns back in March saying: "I still think there are some loopholes that people who share tunnels can exploit.

"If you're sharing tunnels, and you're in the same place at the same time, and you're having coffee with other aerodynamicists, there are ways to exploit that.

"We have to figure out how to close those loopholes," he insisted.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto explained how things work with Haas as the latter uses the Scuderia's wind tunnel in Maranello.

"Those persons will be in Maranello in a completely separate building to Scuderia Ferrari, so they will not have access to the Scuderia Ferrari building," he said.

"It is separate and they will remain in the area," the Swiss-born Italian insisted.

"Haas is a fully-independent team compared to Ferrari. It's not a junior team and we are not exchanging information beyond what's possible by the regulations, so it's a completely different organisation, independent to Ferrari," Binotto added.

Haas' team boss Guenther Steiner in insisted that their is noting wrong going on in the relationship his team has with Ferrari, and told Germany's RTL: "We do everything according to the regulations.

"I said to the FIA, 'Guys, please come and check every day, because we are doing everything according to the rules'," he added.

"The FIA ​​​​is with us in Maranello, checking. They are welcome. If they find something, we will improve it. But they will not find anything [to suggest] that we have copied a car," a defying Steiner said.

Looking ahead to this week's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, where the first Sprint Race of the season will take place, Steiner said in a team press release: "For sure it will be challenging because we've only got one free practice session to find a good set-up.

"With the difficulties of these cars and the inexperience we have got with it, it won't be easy but it's the same for everybody and who is better prepared will have a better car so we will be trying our best like everybody else.

"I think it is a good thing for the championship to have these sprint races and I really look forward to it," Steiner maintained.

Haas driver Mick Schumacher said of the upcoming race: "With our car I think it's actually quite alright, we should be able to manage to put everything together quite soon in the weekend.

"We have a good idea, we don't need to two huge changes so hopefully we'll be right in there and be able to have a good weekend," he explained.

Kevin Magnussen added, on the prospects of the sprint race: "I think it's good that they've added points for finishing eighth and higher because there's a pay bonus for points so I'm going to go all out, and the racing is going to be great!

"I think it's interesting as last year sometimes it was a little less exciting as people were more conservative because there wasn't as much at stake.

"Now that there are points, I think we'll see more tough racing, so I'm looking forward to it," the Dane said.