Haas: Renault must do better before criticising rival F1 approaches

Renault's managing director Cyril Abiteboul said at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix that he felt the advance of B-teams could be a threat to some big squads.

"It is already a challenge for a team like us, who are competing against that top three teams - that have something like 30% more resources than we have," he said.

"If they are capable of combining their resources with other teams, or getting the benefits of synergies within the scope of a budget cap - that is a problem for us and a problem for at least two other teams in the field."

The focus on customer benefits has gathered some momentum in the wake of Haas emerging as the leading midfield outfit in the early stages of 2019.

A Renault-backed push to stop teams buying brake ducts from other outfits from 2020 was approved by the Strategy Group and F1 Commission.

The move will have consequences for Haas, which buys its parts from Ferrari.

But Steiner thinks Renault is just hunting for excuses for its own lack of performance, after it has made a disappointing start to the campaign without the step forward in pace it had hoped for.

When asked if there was a bit more "heat" in relations between Haas and Renault, Steiner said: "They should do a better job and then they wouldn't get the heat. It is in their own hands.

"I think they need to up their own game and not try to lower our performance by hindering us. They are not getting closer to the big ones, that is the problem."

Steiner also said he does not buy suggestions that his squad's business model is preventing any other teams from being successful in F1.

"Will they ever win with their business model? That is the question," he said.

"What is the difference between us not winning and them not winning? That [business model] is not their problem. We not winning is not their problem.

"Their problem is us being better than them and they use the 'we cannot win' as an excuse. Can they win? It doesn't look it."

Steiner did admit that the brake duct move, which still needs formal ratification from the FIA, would be expensive for his team but insisted it would not cause dramatic problems.

"We just have to spend more money," he said. "You need more people to do it. It is a job that we could easily do without, doing the brake ducts, but now we have to do them.

"We have overcome bigger hurdles. I am not going to lose any sleep over it. And a good result is look where we are today and look where [Renault] are today."