‘Without the budget cap I don't think we'd still be here'

The introduction of the budget cap for teams should bring the grid closer together in terms of performance, but an explanation from Guenther Steiner now reveals that the new measure has even provided his team, Haas, with a future in the sport that would otherwise have been unsure.

Speaking to GPFans, Steiner explained that without the budget cap his team would not have survived much longer in the cut-throat world of Formula 1. "Without the budget cap and the new prize fund distribution, I don't think we would be here this year," he admitted.

Steiner continued, looking back at a conversation between him and Gene Haas: "He [Haas] said it is so difficult, impossible to catch up to the big boys because the money is just too big. We are not a car manufacturer, we cannot justify the amount of money that they spend, which is fine. It wasn't critical, it was just honesty. If it is different, if you can get it done different, fine, otherwise, we need to look for other things to do in life."

Plenty of fun things to do

The budget cap, designed to curb the huge spending of the bigger teams and thus give teams in the middle a chance to catch up, prevented an exit from Haas, according to Steiner.

"With the budget cap, if you do a good job, you can break even and if the sport goes well commercially, you could even make a business out of it. It is a business now but it is a losing business for most of us here. The aim is always to break even or to make money - that would be the best thing. So I think without the budget cap, it would be very difficult that we would be here for the future."

Previously, the money at Haas seemed to be disappearing into a bottomless pit, with hardly any progress being made on the bigger teams.

“At some point, you say, 'Hey, I have had my fun,' you move on and do something else fun because there is a lot of things you can do with the money that is fun.”