Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner says he is in full favour of the moves the sport’s governing body, the FIA, has made to ensure the financial stability of all its teams as they look to launch phase one of their exit-strategy to end the coronavirus-induced suspension and get back on the track.
The most recent team on the grid, Haas have continually voiced their discontent over the unfair allocation of prize money and the spending budgets of the more established teams since making their debut season back in 2016.
Having concluded the 2018 season fifth in the constructors’ championship and less than 30 points adrift of the factory Renault outfit, Haas then opted to boost their in-season expenditure on development by 22% to US $118.7 million.
Ultimately, the surge in spending was to little avail as the team suffered their worst season in F1 to date.
Next year is set to see the sport introduce its inaugural budget cap to prevent the top three teams from merely outspending their rivals to unlock even further performance.
The value of the cost cap was initially determined at US $175 million.
However, as the sport and its teams prepare themselves for the anticipated economic crisis amid the global pandemic, F1 has confirmed their plans to reduce the figure of its budget cap by upwards of a staggering US $30 million – an ordeal Steiner says is a strong step forward in a positive direction.
“I think that we are making good moves now and I think we are very close to a final figure,” Steiner told The Inside Line.
“For sure we would like [the budget cap] low but also you have to respect the big teams. For them to come down in the numbers is very difficult. But I hope we can find the right compromise so the small teams can make a living and so can the big teams.
“But everything that comes down for us moves us closer to the big teams. Maybe not as much as we won’t but at the moment we are hundreds-of-millions away [from the spending of the top teams] and all of a sudden we will be tens-of-millions away. So, in the long run, it is already a good result but let’s see how far we can bring it down and go from there.”
Steiner also added that the freezing of technical development on cars across the truncated 2020 season and into the start of next year was the most appropriate choice made by the FIA to assist their crash-stricken teams.
“I think it has gone in our favour, but also in favour of F1 because everybody is challenged and if we don’t race then we get no money so at the moment we just need to try and reserve cash.
“And for sure going into next year with the same car as this year will help everybody.
“In a crisis like this making a new car when not even knowing how often we will race this [2020] car is a complete waste, so I think it was a very good move.”
Plans remain afoot to have a season-opening round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on July 5.
Though what a rescheduled calendar will resemble beyond that date remains uncertain and will likely be determined on a case-by-case basis as countries continue to evaluate the risks imposed by re-opening their borders once more.
