Haas willing to block Force India deal alone
ByAutoSport
Updated 02/09/2018 at 12:56 GMT
Haas says it would have no qualms about being the only Formula 1 team to block Force India getting full prize money.
Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Sahara Force India F1 Team VJM11 Mercedes in the Pitlane during practice for the Formula One Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo di Monza on August 31, 2018 in Monza, Italy.
Image credit: Getty Images
The 'new' Force India entry is trying to get unanimous support for earning extra 'Column 1' prize money immediately - something new teams normally have to wait two years for - in a deal supported by F1 bosses.
Haas has refused to back the move amid frustrations about why that would be waived for Force India when it had to race without that income for 2016 and '17.
Though there have been times in the past when teams have shied away from going solo in blocking deals for rivals, Haas says it would not back down over the prize money issue even if everyone else was happy.
Asked by Autosport if the team would be ready to stand alone in the debate, Haas team principal Gunther Steiner replied: "I would think so. Why wouldn't I?
"The other teams, because they are here so long, never went through two years of not getting money, so they never had that experience.
"They don't know how it feels to be left out, nor how you feel if you are left out and if somebody else doing the same gets a new licence, and does not have to go through this pain of missing out on Column 1 for two years."
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2018/07/28/2380627-49511310-2560-1440.jpg)
Romain Grosjean (Haas) - GP of Germany 2018
Image credit: Getty Images
At present, Haas is not the only team with concerns about Force India's financial deal.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown said he had spoken with F1 chiefs over the Monza weekend to seek further clarification on the matter, as he shared Haas's view that Force India should wait for Column 1 payments.
"I've looked for clarification of that and the answer I was given was let's just give it a little bit more time to see where things mete out," he said.
Steiner said that he had held no further talks with F1 bosses since Spa last weekend, and that the onus was now on them to come back to him with a solution.
"I want to see what they [FOM] come up with because I think we all know that the process of doing this, even done with the right intent to keep a team here, was still a little bit strange in how it was done.
"Before making a comment of what we want or what should be done, I would like to hear from FOM, what they propose to do, because they'll maybe come up with a good proposal and we'll agree to it."
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement