Haas thinks that Cristiano will surprise a few people next year source: Planet-F1.com Champ Car boss Carl Haas says that though he would have liked to have kept Cristiano da Matta in the CART series for one more season, he knew his driver's heart wouldn't be in it. The Newman-Haas boss released da Matta from his 2003 contract (with a little bit of financial persuasion) so that he could join Olivier Panis in the Toyota F1 team - even though da Matta had just won the championship. "I could have kept Cristiano," said Haas. "If I hadn't let him go he would have gone along with it, but I felt that if I didn't let him do it, there was going to be some unhappiness." Haas is genuinely sorry to lose the man he pursued to get in his team. "I worked fairly hard to be able to sign him and the record shows it was the right choice," he told Autosport. "We have had a great personal relationship. He had some reservations about where the racing was going in the States and some of his concerns are difficult to guarantee." Haas thinks that Cristiano will surprise a few people next year. "It's a great opportunity for him and the guy will be very, very good. It'll probably take a while to get the car up front, but he's aware of that. There's certainly a possibility of Toyota becoming competitive."
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