Steiner warns: 'Shouldn't sacrifice the sport for the sake of show'

F1 News

Steiner on benefit Red Bull
11 April 2023 at 07:24
Last update 11 April 2023 at 08:38
  • GPblog.com

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner wants nothing to do with suggestions that the FIA might have to adjust the rules to negate Red Bull Racing's advantage. To Autosport Steiner makes it clear that such a choice would result in the spectacle of Formula 1 being preferred to the sporting elements of racing.

Red Bull's extremely successful start to the season has led to several voices calling the team back somewhat. George Russell recently suggested that Red Bull itself is afraid of this and therefore has not even shown its maximum performance yet. The fear would be that the FIA might introduce rules to restrain Red Bull a bit and thus give the other teams a chance to close the gap with Red Bull.

Steiner, however, cannot agree with this at all. In his view, such a decision would come at the expense of the sporting nature of Formula 1. "The show is secondary, but I think it will sort itself out and then still we have got a good race going on in the front now with Checo and Max, that doesn't seem to be without sparks, without show."

Steiner thinks advantage Red Bull fully deserved

Although the good results of the first few races do not suggest it, Red Bull is working with a handicap this year. The team has been given less testing time in the wind tunnel due to breaching the 2021 budget cap. According to Steiner, this is all the more proof that Red Bull fully deserves to have such a wide lead. "You cannot blame the regulations for that, because if somebody does a better job than anybody else, they should get the advantage," Steiner said.