Amid rumblings that the major Formula 1 manufacturers – Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault – are unhappy with the proposed vision for the sport as set out by new owners Liberty Media, Haas team principal believes that the proposal is a step in the rgiht direction.
Steiner said in the wake of the recent proposal presented by F1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn, “They’ve tried to achieve the things they set out with more noise, more equality and lower costs. That is the aim of it.”
“I think they’ve thrown out a good concept to start off with. Now the details can be worked out by the technical people. The concept is out there and I don’t think the concept will be changed. But now they need to work on the detail of the concept to achieve the goals they’ve set themselves with more noise, more equality and lower costs for the customer teams. Hopefully, they can achieve it.”
One of the big drawbacks of the current engine formula is the lack of ear-splitting sound which has always been a hallmark of F1.
Steiner acknowledged, “The noise – if you don’t have it, you think it’s not important because it’s just noise. If you hear a V10 or a V12 going by, when you see these historic cars, it sounds beautiful. I think a lot of people like the noise. I don’t think we’ll get to that noise of a V10 or a V12, because you have a turbo on it.
“You can improve, and the aim is with making the rev limit 3,000 rpm higher than the current engine, it can be achieved to be noisier. I think it will never be like it was. A little bit noisier is good because I think it’s great for the fans to hear a car coming from far away.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s the most important. It’s as important as the other ones because even if it’s cheap, if people don’t like the engine, why would we do it?”
“There needs to be a compromise between what the fans like, which is noise, and new manufacturers coming in, which is what people want. The cost element is also important for new people, for current people, and for the teams which don’t make their own engines, like us. It’s part of what we need to do to change Formula One to be better,” added Steiner.
Big Question: Is noise (or lack thereof) really a problem for Formula 1?