F1 can react quickly if further cost cuts needed - Steiner
Haas Formula 1 team boss Gunther Steiner says that the sport is prepared to react quickly if further cost-cutting measures are needed in 2021.
During last year's spring shutdown, F1 took a series of emergency measures, including postponing the new regulations by a year, freezing chassis components for 2021, and lowering the budget cap.
Steiner believes that 2021 already looks a lot better financially, with F1 planning a 23-race calendar and spectators expected at the majority of races.
He remains hopeful that with improved revenue streams no emergency changes will be required.
"There's no point to bandage your head yet if it isn't broken," Steiner told Motorsport.com.
"I think we have to wait a little bit and see what is actually going to happen. It didn't actually take long last year, and then you know what hit the fan – and there were big changes, and it was done very quickly.
"I think everyone is prepared for doing a step, if it's needed. It doesn't look like it's needed, so let's stay optimistic, but if it's needed we learned a lot last year, that we needed to react quickly, to get out in a good position.
"If you think about it last year was the year the pandemic hit, the Concorde needed to be signed, and everything was done, we still have 10 teams here. Nobody baled out or was forced to bale out."
Steiner says that the new Concorde Agreement and the budget cap have transformed the prospects for the smaller teams.
"Absolutely, I said a few times, without the new Concorde, without the new distribution model, I don't think that we would still be here.
"The big teams have maybe more fixed costs than we have got, because we are a pretty small team.
"We are not completely at the budget cap, but before they had 100% more. Now they've got maybe 10% more, which makes it close.
"We still need to do a good job, and straight away they have so much more resource just rolling into the budget cap. They still have an advantage.
"But I hope in a short time, it will level the playing field. That would already be fantastic."
Related video
WADA looking into Haas F1 livery after Russian flag ban
Hamilton on F1 contract talk distractions: "Not my first rodeo"
The underdog F1 squad that thrust Senna into the limelight
The Toleman TG184 was the car that could, according to legend, have given Ayrton Senna his first F1 win but for Alain Prost and Jacky Ickx at Monaco in 1984. That could be stretching the boundaries of the truth a little, but as STUART CODLING explains, the team's greatest legacy was in giving the Brazilian prodigy passed over by bigger outfits an opportunity
Why Aston Martin is unlikely to repeat Jaguar’s F1 mistakes
Two famous manufacturer teams born out of humble midfield origins, splashing the cash while attempting to rise to the top of F1 in record time. There are clear parallels between Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin and the doomed Jaguar Racing project of 22 years ago, but Mark Gallagher believes struggling Aston can avoid a similar fate.
How rejuvenated Haas recovered its F1 mojo
US-owned but until recently Russian-backed, Haas seems to have reached a turning point in car performance after three gruesome seasons. And it needs to if it’s to attract fresh investment. Team boss Gunther Steiner tells Oleg Karpov how close Haas came to the abyss.
How F1 race leaders have now lost their comfort blanket
As Formula 1 teams have settled down in understanding the new generation of cars and the way they need to maximise their performance, fresh lessons have emerged. Jonathan Noble investigates how they have brought with them an all-new kind of grand prix racing
Gilles Villeneuve's 10 greatest F1 drives
Formula 1 lost one of its brightest stars when Gilles Villeneuve was killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. Forty years on, Motorsport.com picks out the greatest drives by a Ferrari legend
The silver lining of Ferrari’s Miami GP defeat
OPINION: Much was made of Formula 1’s first Miami Grand Prix – what turned out to be a very ‘marmite’ event for both those in attendance and everyone following on TV. But even as the on-track battle between Red Bull and Ferrari it produced continued the negative run of results for the red team, it contained a glimmer it must hope continues to shine
How imperfect Miami offered F1's drivers a unique challenge
OPINION: Despite all of the stylistic embellishments festooning Formula 1's inaugural Miami Grand Prix, the Miami International Autodrome offered the drivers a unique challenge and punished driver errors; a stark contrast to the usual cast of modern-day circuits
Why F1’s turbulent relationship with Russia is nothing new
Russia’s involvement in Formula 1 has been big on promise but short on delivery – then reached the end of the road prematurely. MARK GALLAGHER investigates why