Guenther Steiner demands new F1 rule: “No owner should have two teams”
“You never get away from the suspicion that there are team orders between teams"
Guenther Steiner thinks Formula 1 must introduce a new rule preventing two teams with the same owner.
However, he accepts a rule must be phased in slowly.
Red Bull - who Steiner worked for before becoming Haas team principal - would be most affected by his proposed new regulation.
Red Bull have sister team RB who are also on the F1 grid, a situation which has riled some of their rivals.
“In a sport like Formula 1, no owner should have two teams,” Steiner told the Red Flags podcast.
“You never get away from the suspicion that there are team orders between teams.
“I guess we have to respect what Red Bull did at the time. I was involved in it, when they bought Minardi.
“F1 was struggling. Minardi was struggling, they would have gone away without a saviour.
“F1 has developed a lot since those days.
“In the future, maybe there can be a fix that you’re not allowed to own two teams.
“You are not allowed to do it in football, nowhere.”
But Steiner warns that the situation cannot be changed overnight.
“It shouldn’t be as radical as in the Concorde Agreement. No,” he said.
“What Red Bull put into F1 to make it what it is now, it’s quite amazing.
“So, in the end, you cannot tell them what to do with their teams.
“But in the future there needs to be thought about it. How can we avoid it?”
Controversy arose in Singapore when RB’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed the fastest lap bonus point in the closing stages.
He robbed McLaren’s Lando Norris of the bonus point which might later become crucial in the drivers’ championship battle.
RB essentially aided their sister team Red Bull’s star man Max Verstappen in his quest for the F1 title by depriving Norris of points.
“If Visa Cash App wasn’t owned by the same owner, nobody would have had this suspicion,” Steiner said.
“Everyone would have said it’s the last hurrah for Daniel Ricciardo.
“If, for example, Sauber made the last lap. Would anybody have been worried? No.
“The problem is because they are owned by the same owners.”
Haas, under Steiner’s leadership, were a customer team of Ferrari.
But they had different owners, which Steiner insists is a crucial detail.
“Times have changed. In the past if you were a customer team, you had to do what your supplier wanted,” he said.
“Nobody could tell contractually because all the contracts are with the FIA. Nobody could say ‘you need to hold up this car’.
“But if you’re owned by the same company it’s a different story. It’s a different level of collaboration.”
