Former Haas boss Gunther Steiner criticizes the team’s lack of ambition, calling it “the smallest team just taking part.”
Haas F1 team owner is content with simply “taking part” in Formula 1.
This is the blunt assessment of Gunther Steiner, the former boss of the small American team, who was dismissed by phone by owner Gene Haas ahead of the 2024 season.
At first glance, Haas has made significant strides under the leadership of engineer-turned-team principal Ayao Komatsu, progressing steadily and even securing Toyota as a new technical partner.
Steiner, however, told Ouest-France that he remains unimpressed.
“I don’t know how much Mr. Haas wants to invest, and the team is still the smallest on the grid, both in terms of staff and facilities…
“Surviving in this ever-growing world is challenging. My feeling is that Mr. Haas is content with being in the lower half of the standings and simply participating.”
“That’s what frustrated me. I don’t put in so much effort just to participate; I admire the Olympic spirit, but that’s not who I am. I want to move forward, to have a goal to chase. I want to compete with others because I’m a competitor.”
“I don’t know what he wants to do. Honestly, I’ve done my time there, I built the team, and I’m satisfied with that. What he does with it is not my concern, and to be completely transparent, I don’t care much.”
Steiner, now a consultant for several F1 broadcasters, says his only “regret” from his tenure at Haas is not resigning in 2022.
“Not a regret, no, but maybe with what I know now, I would have left the team in 2022. We weren’t going anywhere, and we kept trying to ‘do more with less,’ which is very difficult because everyone else was doing ‘more with more.’ But I always gave my best, and in that tunnel, you don’t necessarily see that you’re going nowhere. But it’s not a regret.”
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Steiner: Haas is merely ‘taking part’ in F1 Steiner: Haas is merely ‘taking part’ in F1
