Haas F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner has clarified comments made by Gene Haas about his American outfit's team "having a better chassis than Ferrari this year," according to Nate Saunders of ESPN. In November, Haas said that the team's first car would "in some ways be better" than Ferrari's. Steiner: "What Gene meant is that our chassis is different in construction than the Ferrari and we've had more time to work on it. But that fact is that right now it's merely a guess as to where everyone stands. Everyone has been developing their cars. We'll get a better idea as to where everyone is after testing, but we won't really know anything until we actually start racing in Melbourne." Steiner has "downplayed expectations about Haas' debut season before" and says a realistic expectation for '16 will be behind Toro Rosso, even though it will line up this season with Ferrari engines one year older (ESPN, 1/21).
RENAULT PASSES TEST: MOTORSPORT's Jonathan Noble reported Renault has become the "latest team to pass its Formula 1 crash tests, ahead of the French manufacturer's team launch in Paris in a fortnight's time." In a tweet sent on Wednesday, Lotus confirmed that the crash tests -- mandatory for the car to run on track -- "were now done." Renault plans to confirm its new identity, management team and drivers at a media event in Paris on Feb. 3 (MOTORSPORT, 1/20).
