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Haas team principal Gunther Steiner reckons there would be no point in him staying in Formula 1 longer-term if his squad never had a chance of challenging the top three.
The current grid features such a gulf of performance between the top three teams – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – and the rest of the field that the pack outside the top six cars has been nicknamed ‘Class B’ by many.
Steiner said he can accept such a situation carrying on in the short term, but would have to question his involvement longer term if things do not change.
“I think for two years yes, it’s sustainable,” Steiner told Autosport. “But long term: no, it gets old.
“If it doesn’t change at some point there’s no point to just be in it.
“The business as a business doesn’t work if you cannot take and feel the enjoyment of competing for podiums and wins. There’s no point to be here after a certain time.
“Why would I waste my life working madly, day and night, flying to, I don’t know, 21 countries all around the globe, to know I can just do the same as I did last year?
“There is no point. No point.”
Steiner believes that as well as the new-look cars and the introduction of a budget cap for 2021 having potential to shake things up, the natural evolution of teams will make a difference too.
“It always changes and things change so quickly in here, so I don’t think that in three years Formula 1 would be the Formula 1 which is now,” he said.
“I mean look at what Formula 1 was at the beginning of the 2000s. You could make money really easily, and now it’s impossible. Just 18 years later, it’s impossible.
“So things change, and that’s actually a part of Formula 1 which interests me. It’s not like doing the same for the next 20 years. Every time something changes.”