By signing up to the new Concorde Agreement this month, the Haas F1 Team has committed themselves to the sport until at least the end of the 2025 season.
Just months earlier, team owner Gene Haas suggested that they could pull out of the sport if 2020 proved to be an uncompetitive year for them.
The team has struggled in the opening six Grand Prix, only managing to pick up a solitary point, leaving them ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
However, team principal Guenther Steiner has now said they reconsidered due to the rule changes which will come into effect next year to make F1 more competitive.
“I guess Gene [Haas] looked at it and [saw that] Formula 1’s still a very good tool for getting his brand name, Haas Automation, out in the world,” he said.
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“It works – otherwise he wouldn’t be doing it. He loves the sport as well.
“Even if it is a big financial commitment, with the new regulations coming in, it should make the playing field more even and the commercial aspects better for the smaller teams – so as a result he has decided to continue.”
Continuing, he said, “Everybody is, for sure, happy to be moving forward now with the agreement signed.
“The budget cap should level the playing field, it will level the playing field – just maybe not in the first year, but in the mid-term for sure.
“The payments, to make it more equal, will also mean the smaller teams get a little more revenue.
“It’s never enough for the small teams by the way, but it levels the field and that should be the aim of a sport – any day, anybody can win.”
He noted that it will take a while for the effects of these reforms to be soon on the track, but nevertheless described them as a “step in the right direction” for Formula 1.
“Times change and I think Liberty did a great job in adapting to those times and making changes when it was needed. It was needed a few years ago, but it’s better late than never,” Steiner concluded.
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