Haas team principal Guenther Steiner sees no need to add a new team to the Formula 1 grid, after the sport’s governing body began a process to consider applications.
The FIA announced last week it had begun a process for potential new teams to enter the series from 2025. Steiner’s Haas squad remains the most recent new addition to the series, having joined in 2016. Rivals Manor went out of business at the end of the year, leaving F1 with its current 10-team line-up.
Several prospective entrants have emerged, by far the most vocal of which is Michael Andretti’s organisation. It is building a major new facility for its multi-discipline motorsports team in Indianapolis and has attracted the backing of American automotive giant General Motors to its F1 bid.
Steiner said that while F1 is enjoying a rise in popularity at the moment which has improved the financial health of the teams, it could go into reverse.
“Five years ago you could get teams for nothing,” he told Sky “You could pick it up, nobody wanted them, they went out of business. Now all of a sudden everybody wants a team.
“But it’s a lot of people which want to come in just right away for Formula 1 is on it. And the 10 teams which are here, they are all financially stable, they are all well set up. It’s a very good environment in the moment. Nobody’s struggling.
“So if you put an 11th team in and if you get a little bit a dip in the economy or something, all of a sudden it’s all there. People maybe struggle to survive. So why take that risk if there is no upside?”
The FIA’s application process states any successful applicants will require the approval of both the FIA and Formula One Management. However Steiner remains sceptical that expanding the field to a new entrant would benefit the existing competitors.
“An 11th team, what upside is it bringing? It’s not [for] me to decide, it’s for FOM to decide because they are managing more – FOM and FIA – the business side of it, of general F1.
“But there is no upside in the moment for an 11th team to come for the other teams. So there is just risk, no benefit.”
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