“Being 3s Slow and Spending a Lot of Money Doesn’t Make Sense”: Guenther Steiner Bashes F1 Budget Cap

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner isn’t too impressed with the sport’s budget cap. Steiner believes the proposed financial ceiling won’t be successful in bridging the gap between the top teams and the midfield. Furthermore, the added effect of Coronavirus has only made life even more difficult for the smaller teams in the development race.

F1’s initial budget cap was $175 million which the majority of the teams believe is too high. The sport introduced a restriction on a team’s spending to close the gap between teams and level the playing field. Apparently, teams have agreed to lower the cap to $150 million but the smaller teams are pushing for an even bigger cut.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently revealed that the smaller teams wanted a new budget cap of $100 million. However, Red Bull and Ferrari are reluctant to budge. F1 had scheduled a budget meeting this week but has postponed the same to next week.

Haas is one of the few teams which are financial issues. Moreover, the American team is on the verge of leaving the sport and an unfair financial cap could sound the death knell for its F1 prospects.

Speaking to Motorsport-Magazin.com, Steiner highlighted the team’s plight.

“If the big teams spend a lot and a small team is four seconds slower and struggles for eighth or ninth place, this is not exciting for a patron who invests a lot of money in the team. 

“the top teams also need us to fill up the field, so we have to agree on something where both can do it Because just participating, being three or four seconds slower and spending a lot of money doesn’t make sense. ”

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto believes a uniform budget cap isn’t viable for all 10 teams. Binotto’s solution is to allot different caps to teams based on its engine independence. The Italian called for customer teams to have a lower cap and engine supplier steams to have a higher cap. Binotto’s solution is unlikely to be accepted by the smaller teams. Varying budgets defeats the very purpose of a budget cap in the first place.

Formula 1 needs a fairer budget cap or could risk losing teams from the sport