Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes Ferrari's 2017 power unit is now the benchmark engine in Formula One.
Haas is the only team other than Maranello's factory outfit that uses the 2017 Ferrari power unit and at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix the new VF17 proved very competitive in qualifying. With Ferrari going on to win the race, Steiner believes the Italian marque has finally caught up -- and possibly passed -- Mercedes, which has had the standard bearer in F1 since the start of the hybrid era in 2014.
"With the engine, there is not just one area that is better, it's the whole package that has improved from last year," Steiner said.