Guenther Steiner believes that the budget cap will allow for Haas to continue battling for points in the forseeable future. The team have enjoyed a successful start to the 2022 campaign, with Kevin Magnussen finishing his comeback race in Bahrain with a P5 result. He again scored points at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix one week later after ending the event in ninth. Mick Schumacher has also progressed into Q2 in qualifying on both occasions, but narrowly missed out on a points-paying position in Bahrain, whilst a crash on Saturday in Jeddah resulted in him being unable to take the race start on Sunday.
How long can Haas' points-scoring streak last?
When asked on the F1 Nation podcast how much longer the team can maintain their current form, Steiner light-heartedly asked: "Why should it stop? Why do you think we cannot keep it going?" Presenter Tom Clarkson responded that Haas may have fewer resources than the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari, but Steiner thinks that the budget cap introduced for 2022 is helping to balance the field out in this respect. "We are not competing at the moment against Ferrari or Red Bull, but I think we can keep growing where we are now," the team boss explained. "Obviously the other ones will get closer but, with the budget cap in place, it's not like the good old days where you just throw money at it and you keep on developing. We will develop and we will get better as well."
Steiner praises "level playing field" in F1
Steiner has praised the effect of the financial restrictions in allowing smaller teams to compete for points more often. "It's a very level playing field in the moment in the Formula 1," he said. "And I think that was the intention of the financial regulations, to have a budget cap, to achieve this, because it's much more interesting if smaller teams now can compete in the midfield and fight for points every weekend." Despite this, Steiner acknowledges that there is the possibility of Haas' place in the pecking order changing, just as it has done in the past. "Obviously, there will be a day that we fall back again and somebody else comes up, like we fell back and then came back," the Italian added. "But I think that's the whole idea of the budget cap, that it is more competitive between the teams."
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