Haas sale rumours 'a storm in a teacup' - Steiner

Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has addressed speculation the team is for sale, dismissing the rumours as "speculation with no foundation".

Ahead of the expected season opener in Australia, Haas team owner Gene Haas said the results of the first few races would heavily affect his decision on whether to keep the team in Formula 1 or not, saying, "If we have another bad year, then it would not be that favourable [to stay]."

From this line, various rumours of a sale or partial sale have cropped up, and Steiner has now dealt with these comments head on.

"I don't know where this comes from," Steiner told a conference call of invited media, including GPFans. "I think it's now the third time Gene has sold the team, partly sold the team. All this speculation, somebody is putting some rumours out there.

"[There was a rumour] We were sold to Saudi Arabia a year ago. We were already sold and the deal was done. Nobody ever spoke to Saudi Arabia.

"I see this as trying to make in a storm in a teacup for no good reason. Gene Haas is still the 100% owner of Haas. He's never had a partner, he maybe doesn't want a partner, he maybe doesn't need a partner.

"When the time is right we will communicate it, and when I say 'we', that is Haas F1, and not everybody else with an opinion as to who owns Haas and who is buying Haas, and who is acquiring shares in Haas."

Williams are openly now searching for outside investment after parting ways with title sponsor ROKiT, and Steiner holds the former championship winning team up as an example of how a team would make clear that it was on the market.

He added: "If someone wants to buy a team out there, I think Williams did a very good job in how to manage it. They put it on the market and said if you are interested then speak with these people. That is how it should be done and not speculation with no foundation.

"There are a lot of people that wish to buy an F1 team, and tell people they are going to buy one, but they haven't done, at least not with Haas, so that is the status on that one."

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