With its engine and transmission supplied by Ferrari and its chassis the work of Dallara, Haas, more than any other team on the 2017 grid, brings to mind those days of the 60s and 70s when new teams were built around the off-the-shelf packages provided by Cosworth and Hewland.

While team owner Gene Haas admits to 'if I'd known then what I know now' syndrome, as the American team sets its sights on sixth in the standings, team principal Guenther Steiner is looking even further ahead, to 2021.

While there is still a long way to go in terms of the engine regulations, the Italian believes it is a step in the right direction.

"They've tried to achieve the things they set out with more noise, more equality and lower costs," he says. "That is the aim of it.

"I think they've thrown out a good concept to start off with," he continues. "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."

Asked if there is an element of this direction he'd like to see expanded, such as a spec gearbox that can mate with any engine, he replies: "I think the aim is, with the new spec of engine, that you can bolt it onto any car, and any part to it. They will define more of the attachment points."

And what of 'that certain sound'?

"The noise, if you don't have it, you think it's not important because it's just noise," he says. "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."

Many say, in terms of the new regulations, that cost is the main factor, Steiner disagrees.

"I wouldn't say it's the most important," he says. "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."

With Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault already expressing dissent, asked how long will it take to get everyone on the same page, he admits: "I think it will take a year to finalize the regulations.

"I think that's the aim, to have the final version of the technical regulations by the end of 2018. Then it's a two-year development process. I think already the manufacturers will start now to develop, because you cannot be behind."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Damnsborne, 11/11/2017 6:55

"When the richest can afford the cleverest you have the same winners over and over. Changing the rules just favours the rich. You can try to make it less expensive but they will buy their way around it. A big part of the sport (?) is watching how fast the money goes. "

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2. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 07/11/2017 9:57

"Whilst we are never going back to the V10 - V12 era, still think a V6 turbo with Kers is the way to go, most road going high performance cars now have V6 turbos in place of V8s, would give them the "road relevance" we keep hearing about."

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3. Posted by imejl99, 07/11/2017 9:09

"Personally, I would like to see it deregulated as much as possible. Imagine rule book - 1. single seater, 2. open wheels, 3. max length, 4. max width, 5. max height, 6. min weight, 7. max fuel load. Go race, powered by steam turbine or ion engine, whatever someone comes up with...

Imagine all smart innovations banned over the years still in use. There are quite smart and innovative people in F1. Why limit them, it is beyond me. "

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4. Posted by V10s4Me, 07/11/2017 8:15

"Take the 3 litre V10 engines out of the 2 seat demo cars and put them back in the race cars. Give the drivers enough fuel to get rid of the laughable "lift & coast" so they can at least have enough fuel to "race" each other. For dry races make all three available sets of tires mandatory to use during the race with all cars to start on new hardest available tires. Teams will need to make clever strategy decisions on when to change to the other available tire sets. V10's to be rev limited to 18000rpm and control ecu's used. Enough engines available for the season to prevent the "limited running syndrome" during Grand Prix weekends. Deduct team points after 8 or 10 engines used in a season. Abolish penalties for gearbox failures. Just think of the savings in development costs. Manufacturers already have experience building V10's so there is no need to spend massive amounts of money on development costs. Ban KERS and ERS and that saving alone will more than make up for the extra fuel used."

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Steiner in favour of 2021 engine regulations

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