Red Bull and Haas defend Liberty F1 shake-up

Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Haas head Gunther Steiner have both declared their support for proposed changes to Formula 1 by Liberty Media, following outrage from Mercedes and Ferrari, with the Italian giants even threatening to quit the sport altogether over the alterations.

The proposals would see drastic engine changes as well as a budget cap for teams, and one of the main critics of the idea is Mercedes chairman and F1 legend Niki Lauda, who admitted the plans made him 'worried'. However, Horner has hit back at Lauda's opinion, claiming his words were 'a bit unfair and unfounded'. He spoke further to newspaper Osterreich, saying that Liberty Media were simply doing what they believed was best for business.

He said, "They're investing in the business, which is a different model than what we were used to." Two of the most powerful teams in the sport, Ferrari and Mercedes, have both criticised the ideas but Horner did receive some backing in his opinion from Steiner, who believes Lauda and more traditional figures simply don't like change.

"Niki and Bernie were together for 60 years, so probably change is more difficult to accept for them than for some others," he stated.

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Liberty haven't kept quiet on the response from Ferrari and Mercedes either, but it seems there is indeed room for compromise.

"Reflecting on it, maybe we could have presented it differently," F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn told BBC Sport.

"But I didn't anticipate the response to be as strong as it was."