Several parties, including American powerhouse Andretti, have lodged their interest in joining the F1 grid as an 11th team, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem keen on expanding the current grid of 10 teams.
Ben Sulayem says it is the FIA's duty to follow the regulations, which cater for up to 12 teams, as he eyes manufacturer involvement from the US and China.
"We have a contract [with Formula 1] that says we can have up to 12 teams. We are not breaking any rules; on the contrary, we are following the rules exactly;" Sulayem told Autosport earlier this summer.
But F1's existing 10 teams don't share his enthusiasm for new entrants due to having to share their revenue with more parties, as well as citing concerns about the series' stability and logistics, a stance which has been met with great frustration by Michael Andretti.
The bar to be admitted into F1 has been elevated to such a degree in recent years, thanks to the series' popularity boom and its budget cap, that Steiner admits his Haas team wouldn't have been able to join the grid now.
"No, it's not possible," Steiner told Autosport in an exclusive interview. "The sport has changed so much. If you start as a privateer at the moment, you wouldn't join."
Steiner says Volkswagen opting to buy its way into the Sauber outfit rather than starting afresh points to how challenging it now is to start from a clean slate.
Source: Autosport