Even if Red Bull dominated the first three races of the 2023 Formula 1 season at will, Haas team boss Günther Steiner does not think that the rules should be changed just to slow down Red Bull. For the South Tyrolean, sport itself comes first, not a better show: “Sport is the most important thing we have to have,” he says.
The show, on the other hand, is only “secondary” for Steiner, he says, but Steiner believes that the matter will take care of itself anyway: “I’m not worried that the others will catch up,” he doesn’t believe in a march through Red Bull. “I wouldn’t say they will keep that advantage now for the next 20 races.”
Red Bull has already collected 123 points after three races and, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, is also in first and second place in the drivers’ standings. Aston Martin, the second force, is already well behind with 65 points, but has shown that a team can make a big leap in a year.
Because they only finished 2022 in seventh place in the World Championship, Aston Martin also has a big advantage over Red Bull, at least in the first half, because they are allowed to develop significantly more.
“Everyone will catch up”
As world champion, Red Bull is only allowed to do 70 percent of Aston Martin’s development and has also received a further ten percent deduction from its contingent for violating the budget limit, so that they currently only have 63 percent of the development capacities of the team around Fernando Alonso.
“Everyone will work hard and you must never forget that Red Bull got the penalty from last year,” notes Steiner. “They can develop less in the wind tunnel this year, so theoretically they can’t go much further.”
“Everyone will catch up and hopefully we can find out how Red Bull got this advantage and we can copy it or do something similar.”
Formula 1: Günther Steiner praises Red Bull
He stresses that Red Bull simply “did a fantastic job” and that they shouldn’t be punished for it. “You can’t blame the regulations for that, because if someone does a better job than the others, they should have the advantage,” says the Haas team boss.
He also believes that the fight at the top between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, between whom things have not always been harmonious recently, has its appeal: “We still have a good race between Checo and Max, which is not without sparks, seems to be without show.”
That’s why he would refrain from wanting to change the regulations: “You can’t just do something just because someone else is faster. It’s not fair,” he says.
However, if you find that the advantage came about unfairly, you can always adjust the rules. “But I think we have to find out what’s really going on in a few races. I don’t think we should jump to conclusions just yet.”
