Steiner on Red Bull and Porsche: 'Two alpha males clashing'

The Milton Keynes-based racing stable and Porsche had been talking for months and a deal seemed imminent. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz was a big proponent of bringing Porsche in and even reportedly dropped a lucrative bid from Honda. In the end, a kink in the deal did occur, as Porsche wanted to take 50 per cent of the shares. Red Bull, in turn, wanted to retain at least 51 per cent of the shares and thus control.

"My personal opinion is that two alpha males clashed here," Steiner begins to tell Laola1. "And that is always difficult. At 50:50, one has to be the boss .... There was reportedly a standoff, which would have caused problems. It is not yet said that Porsche will not come to F1 after all, but they will have to come up with a new plan."

Mazepin/Uralkali vs Haas F1

Steiner also gave an update on the court case between his team and Nikita Mazepin and Uralkali in an interview with the Austrian medium. The Russian driver was shown the door after Ukraine was invaded by Russia early this year. Mazepin claims he is still entitled to salary and former title sponsor Uralkali is demanding part of his sponsorship budget back.

However, Haas F1 believes it acted in accordance with the rules, despite contracts being unilaterally terminated. Moreover, Haas F1 itself still wants to get just under nine million dollars from Uralkali for 'lost revenue'. "It has been filed [the Mazepins' lawsuit against Haas F1] and is being handled by our lawyers. The arbitration court is in Switzerland." It is not yet known when the case will be heard and when a verdict is expected.