Haas F1 Chief Has A Bold Response To Red Bull Dominance This Season

Amid concerns over Red Bull's dominance in the 2023 Formula 1 season, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner emphasises the importance of sporting integrity, fair competition, and the potential for exciting midfield battles throughout the season.

In the 2023 Formula 1 season, Red Bull has demonstrated unrivalled potency with Max Verstappen taking the win in both Bahrain and Australia, and his teammate Sergio Perez emerging victorious in Saudi Arabia. While some critics argue that Red Bull's continued success could negatively impact F1, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner emphasises the importance of maintaining sporting integrity over prioritising entertainment value and limiting the Milton Keynes team. 

Guenther Steiner on Maintaining Credibility

Steiner argues that the focus should remain on the sport itself, rather than turning it into a spectacle. In an interview with Autosport, he said: 

"The sport is the main thing we have to have.

"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." 

He further added that he isn't concerned about other teams catching up to Red Bull's performance level.

Current Regulations Deemed Sufficient

When it comes to the existing F1 rules, Steiner believes they are working effectively and maintaining close racing. Although Red Bull currently has an advantage, he doesn't foresee this edge lasting throughout the entire season. 

He explains: 

"I'm not so sure about that because everybody will catch up, and hopefully we find out how Red Bull came to this advantage and we can copy it, or do something similar.

“Everybody will be working hard. Then you never have to forget Red Bull has got the penalty from last year, they can do less development in the wind tunnel this year, so they cannot move a lot ahead anymore in theory.

“So you have to see. But they did a fantastic job. And therefore, you cannot blame the regulations for that. Because if somebody does a better job than anybody else, they should get the advantage.”

Steiner also points out that Red Bull faces certain limitations this year due to penalties from the previous season, which restrict their development in the wind tunnel. Consequently, they may not be able to maintain their lead indefinitely.

A Fair Playing Field: No Need for Rule Changes

Regarding any attempts to alter the regulations to slow Red Bull down, Steiner emphasises the importance of fairness, stating: 

"You cannot make moves just because somebody is faster than somebody else, that's not fair.

“If they find that something is not legal, they can adjust the rules. Safety is always a concern. But I think we need to find out in a few races what is going on really. I think we shouldn't jump to a conclusion yet."

Midfield Battles Remain Competitive

Despite Red Bull's current dominance, Steiner anticipates tight competition among the midfield teams, including Haas. 

He explains:

"It will depend on the race track configuration, who is in the front and who's back.

“There will be cars will be better on high-speed courses, there will be some which are better like in Monte Carlo, but we don't know yet.

“So we will find out every race there will be some swapping around, in my opinion.”

There's still plenty of time in the season for the current pecking order to change, and Guenther may well be correct when stating that Red Bull could hit a wall in development due to their punishment from the cost cap breach. I maintain the opinion that the season is very far from over, and while Red Bull dominance is currently clear, there's a lot of change to come.