Former Formula 1 Team Principal, Guenther Steiner, acknowledged that his departure from Haas at the end of last season should have happened sooner, in hindsight. Haas announced earlier this year that Steiner, who had been with the team since the beginning, would not have his contract renewed as team principal. Gene Haas explained that prioritizing engineering within the Haas structure was the reason for promoting Ayao Komatsu as Steiner’s replacement. Reports indicated that Steiner and Gene Haas had different visions for the future of the American team, with Gene Haas against increasing his personal investment. Although Steiner admitted that this was a surprise, he has since accepted that the right time was to move on.
In a new column on the F1 website, Steiner wrote: “Life has been good since I left Haas before this season.” He mentioned that in the past few weeks, it was the first time in about a decade that he took time off from F1. Steiner found this time beneficial. He added: “The more time passes, the more I can see that I stayed at Haas for too long. When you step away, you gain clarity and can see what needs to be done. While you’re there, you’re in denial, thinking you can do it when you can’t.”
Haas achieved their best result in the Constructors’ Championship in 2018, finishing in fifth place. However, the team’s performance has declined since then, and they finished at the bottom of the standings last season. Steiner hinted that realizing the limitations of Haas’ current model made him lose faith in their long-term prospects. He said: “With what we had, we could still compete for seventh, eighth, or ninth place, but we couldn’t fight for podiums without the same resources as the other teams. That’s not what I want to do in life. I don’t want to settle for seventh place again. I want to be able to compete at the front and fight.”
Steiner also mentioned Red Bull as an example, highlighting the patience and long-term planning necessary to achieve their level of success. He emphasized the need for the right conditions and a proper project if he were to return to a management position in F1 in the future. Steiner concluded: “I would come back to F1 in the future, but it needs to be the right project, done the right way.”
During the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, Steiner made his first of eight appearances on German broadcaster RTL, in addition to his written contributions on the F1 website. Despite the recent turnover of team principals in F1, Steiner hinted that he would consider returning to a management position under favorable circumstances. Haas scored their first point of the season under Komatsu’s leadership in Saudi Arabia, thanks to Kevin Magnussen’s strategic maneuvers that allowed Nico Hulkenberg to secure tenth place.
