It’s hard to know which of Guenther Steiner’s catchphrases, made famous by Netflix, would best suit his exit from the Haas F1 team – but I’ll go for “It’s easy to be nice when you’re winning”.
Haas has looked far from winning anything for a long time, and in a results-driven sport like F1 the clock is always ticking unless you’re in the privileged position of taking championships, race wins or podiums. And time has come for Gene Haas to boot him out.
Steiner was a prime mover in the genesis of Haas’s F1 voyage, the whole ethos of a US-based team was literally his idea, so it’s painful to think he won’t be its captain this year. I’ve known him since his Opel DTM days – another program where his “I cannot make a shit car into a good car” quip would’ve fit nicely – and spent some quality time with him during his time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Red Bull Racing.
If only he’d been in charge of that F1 team more recently than 2005, when he was Red Bull's technical operations director before he moved to America. He deserves some success for all his hard work. I wish him well with his next venture. By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief
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