Steiner would welcome F1 engine freeze

Gunther Steiner

(GMM) Gunther Steiner has backed discussions about a potential engine development freeze in Formula 1.

As the sport looks towards brand new rules for 2021, it is also being suggested that development of the normal combustion elements of the 'power units' should be frozen.

"I'm not involved in the talks, but there are examples where such a moratorium worked," Haas team boss Steiner told Der Spiegel.

"The current engines have reached such a high level so that every development step is insanely expensive, so I don't mind if it is gradually frozen.

"Then I would not have to pay so much for every single engine," he added.

Otherwise, Steiner is happy with the 2021 regulations, even though some teams are grumbling that the $175 million budget cap – featuring a laundry list of exemptions – is too high.

"It's a first step," he said.

"I understand that the very big teams can not immediately and radically come down from their budgets.

"But as the smaller racing teams like Haas will never spend $175 million, and the superiority of the big three will continue, we need to see if we can reduce the budget limit after a while," Steiner added.

He is also skeptical that the goal of shrinking the downforce loss for chasing cars to just 10 per cent with the new aerodynamic rules is possible.

"10 per cent, I think, is a bit ambitious, especially as the engineers will sit down and try to get as much from the rules as possible.

"But that's just the game. The general direction is reasonable."

Told that he sounds somewhat skeptical, Steiner insisted: "No, I'm neutral.

"It's human nature to not want change, but we have to take a step forward. The status quo is also not the answer," he said.