“Just Risk, No Benefit”: Guenther Steiner Plays Devil’s Advocate to Andretti-Cadillac Bid Shooting Down F1 Grid Expansion Dreams

The growing opposition and the American dream. Guenther Steiner becomes the newest entrant of the resistance movement against the entry of a new team. The boss of the last entrant in F1 and the only American team is the latest to chime in to express his displeasure on the Andretti-Cadillac bid to enter the sport. Throwing subtle hints at an economic loss to the existing teams, Steiner declared the arrival into the sport of a new team won’t be beneficial. But for whom?

Haas F1 team entered the F1 circus in 2016. Since then, no new team has stopped by to say hello to the sport. However, post the liberty media takeover, the popularity of the sport has grown exponentially in the States. Andretti along with Cadillac have made the most recent bid to join the apex of motor sporting. If they do join the grid, the number of American teams on the grid will go up to two. However, the dilution of prize funds is something that seems most threatening to the Haas chief.

In an interview with Skysports, Steiner said, “So if you put the 11th team in and we get a little bit [of] a dip in the economy or something, all of a sudden, there are people who maybe struggle to survive. So why take that risk if there is no upside? It’s not for me to decide, it’s there for F1 to decide because they are managing the business side of it, but there is no upside at the moment.”

He even added a caveat, “For the other teams, there is just risk, no benefit.”

Read More: Everything You Need To Know About the Andretti-Cadillac F1 Engine Partnership

Steiner is having a hard time wrapping his head around the reason why, when all of a sudden, the new teams are making a beeline to enter Formula 1. Can we say he is not ready for an American competitor?

Guenther Steiner is perplexed why everybody wants to join

It is in fact true that half a decade ago, there weren’t many takers for the teams in F1, and the new and humble budgeted team, Haas, went through its own struggles to stay afloat. However, the new reality and truth is that Haas did well last season. To add to that, the sport did well with the audience, all thanks to Drive to Survive. Even when it made Guenther a household name for the F1 audience, Steiner is still questioning the growing interest of new teams.

Not pleased with the thought of a potential 11th team on the grid, Steiner said, “Five years ago, you could get teams for nothing. You could pick it up, nobody wanted them, they went out of business. Now all of a sudden, everybody wants a team, a lot of people want to come in.”

In a last bid to emphasize that a new team might not be a good idea, he said, “The 10 teams which are here, they’re all financially stable. They’re all well set up. It’s a very good environment at the moment, nobody’s struggling.”

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As a viewer, are you excited to have a new team on the grid?