Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner has revealed the extreme lengths team owner Gene Haas went to in order to cut costs and save money during his time at the team. After being dismissed in January of this year, Steiner has begun to share his experiences, including some surprising details about Haas’ penny-pinching strategies for F1’s smallest team.
In his new book Unfiltered, Steiner confirmed an eyebrow-raising story in which Haas insisted on sending back a can of baked beans after Steiner refused to eat them during a meal. The moment highlighted just how deeply the need to save money was embedded in the team’s culture under Haas’ leadership. “This is real,” Steiner said. “I told the ghostwriter that story, and he said, ‘Are you f*** making this s*** up?’ I said, ‘No, this is true! This is what I lived for 10 years!’”
Since being fired, Steiner has taken up a successful new role as a pundit and presenter for RTL, but it’s clear that he still harbors frustration over the way his departure from Haas was handled. In particular, he expressed disappointment that his termination was conducted via a phone call, calling it “cheap” given the substantial growth and success he claims to have brought to the team during his decade-long tenure.
“Doing it like this [through a phone call] is a little bit cheap if you build up a company for somebody and make him half a billion dollars,” Steiner noted, emphasizing his dissatisfaction with how his exit was managed.
Steiner also indicated that his relationship with Haas is unlikely to be repaired, saying that he has no interest in speaking with his former boss moving forward. “The last thing I want is to speak with him, I don’t need him anymore,” Steiner confirmed, signaling a clean break as he embarks on a new chapter in his career.
