Unapologetic about budget cap: 'Then we'll split Red Bull's share'

Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes want to increase budget

Although the season is not even halfway over, top teams Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are already calling for an increase in the budget ceiling. The reason given is the higher costs due to rising inflation and energy prices. According to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, his team has lost an additional ten million dollars as a result. Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner even fears that his team will have to miss races if the budget ceiling is not raised.

Steiner is not to be swayed by the arguments of his fellow team bosses and says at Autosport.com that it is up to the top teams to get their budgets under control. On the contrary, he thinks it is necessary to stick to the current budget ceiling in order to bring the teams closer together in the longer term.

Ferrari happy if Red Bull has to miss races

That Horner is afraid that Red Bull will have to miss races because otherwise they cannot stay within budget, does nothing for Steiner. According to him, Red Bull will have to complete the season because else it will not get any money for next year. He thinks the other nine teams will be very happy if Red Bull's share is divided among the other teams. And Ferrari will be even happier if Red Bull does a few races less, the American adds.

Steiner does see something in the plan to compensate for the increased freight and operating costs. This would be arranged by the FOM and therefore remain transparent and controllable. The integrity of the budget ceiling would also not be affected, because teams would not be able to add their own costs.