Ahead of the FIA's decision on whether to accept up to two new teams, Haas team boss, Guenther Steiner warns that such a move would pose a risk to the long-term stability of F1.

The Italian's words are the latest as the existing outfits - and the sport's owners - appear to seek to pull up the drawbridge behind them, confident that in the wake of the success of Drive to Survive and other projects such as the Brad Pitt movie and Las Vegas, good times are here to stay and newcomers should not be allowed to rock the boat.

Be it the threat to the size of the slice of the prize money cake, the sport's DNA, sustainability, safety or logistics, the eight teams against newcomers are never short of a reason why nobody else should be invited to join the party.

"You have ten very stable teams which are all technically stable, financially stable," says Steiner. "We made big growths in the last year. It is very stable. We have ten very good teams and if you change something, you could go the other way.

"If you put another team in and maybe somebody gets in jeopardy in three or four years time, maybe only eight or nine teams will be left," he warns.

Of course, Haas has had troubles of its own, and it is only courtesy of the 'boom' that came in the wake of the pandemic that team owner, Gene Haas gave up attempting to sell the American outfit. Prior to that, as his F1 dream appeared to be in limbo, it is a fact that he was seeking a buyer, but at the right price. Indeed, we understand that were he not able to sell the team at what he considered a fair price he was willing to cut his losses and simply shut down the operation.

This was only a couple of years back... a lot can happen in a couple of years.

So now, as the sport appears to be flourishing, Haas, like his fellow team owners, appreciates that he is sitting on a potential goldmine and any newcomers could seriously threaten his team's value.

Haas, like AlphaTauri and Williams, appears to be stuck in a rut, and despite the sport's efforts to level the playing field are never likely to be a threat to the likes of Aston Martin or Alpine, far less the big guns.

However, aware of the (current) value of their 'franchise', each, despite their objections to fresh blood would no doubt capitulate for the right price.

"If you do too much and the teams aren't stable anymore, what would you achieve then?" says Steiner. "You'll be sitting here in three years saying you've lost a team because it went bankrupt.

"At the moment we are at the peak. Formula 1 is growing and there is never an end to it. We could have 56 races in a year and 22 teams in a year, and would be happy.

"F1 is a pretty old sport," he adds, "and there were never ten good teams. If you look back in history, I think we are in a very good moment. It was never as good as now, we never had ten stable teams.

"The business is run by FOM and they need to make sure that this is sustainable. There was a business plan from FOM to get us to this place.

"This didn't happen by accident. There were deeds done, agreements and a lot of work was done. Their plan, they don't want to risk it, what they are doing, by admitting more teams for no good reason."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by USAF1genius, 24/08/2023 22:23

"Disappointing to see these 10 team uniting to ultimately kill the golden goose that was given a steroid boost during the pandemic with Drive to Survive. Evidently Guenther and the rest of the teams hierarchy think this goose is going to keep getting fat or at the least, keep the status quo of cash rolling in. With its current trajectory, F1 is headed for NASCAR decline. "

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2. Posted by Defiant, 14/08/2023 17:03

"It was all fine for new teams when Haas wanted in though.... cough, shhhhh that's inconvenient to my new stance. "

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3. Posted by Burton, 14/08/2023 17:03

"Ten good teams? Where? Haas are content to make up the numbers with minimal car development, Williams are stuck coming up with terrible cars that are only competitive in a very specific way; and AlphaTauri could theoretically compete but will become another Haas by tying in even more with Red Bull."

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4. Posted by elsiebc, 14/08/2023 15:20

"Stability is what we want in sport. We want to know every time we turn on the tele that Max will be upfront, Lewis will be complaining about his tires as he puts in faster laps, Ferrari will blunder, the Alpines will run into each other, and Alpha Tauri, Haas, Alfa Romeo and Williams will trade last place. Now if only we could get McLaren and Aston Martin to read the script and play their parts instead of jumping around as they do, we could have a nice Sunday afternoon watching "sport"."

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5. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 14/08/2023 14:44

"He's obligated to do what is best for his team and limiting the game to 10 players is best for where his team is competing. A top 3 team may want more hands in the pot. More prize money to claim."

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6. Posted by kenji, 14/08/2023 12:16

"As transparent as cellophane! Steiner is just afraid that Andretti will do well and he'll stay rattling around the bottom of the barrel.
"

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7. Posted by Chester, 14/08/2023 11:49

"Self serving. Just like Toto. Same, same"

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New teams would compromise F1's stability, warns Steiner

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