Steiner Admits He 'Stayed At Haas For Too Long'

Saturday, 16 March 2024 at 02:00

Guenther Steiner, who used to be Haas's team principal, has now suggested he has been with the American team for "too long."

Guenther Steiner isn't a team principal who joined a team. He was the one who built the Haas F1 team with the financial help of the team owner, Gene Haas.

The Italian was with the American F1 team from 2016 until the end of the 2023 season. Then, in early 2024, it was announced that he would be departing the team.

The exact reasons behind Steiner's departure aren't 100% clear until today, but Gene Haas stated it was mainly due to insufficient performance.

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The former team principal had some time to step away from F1 between his departure and the start of the season, and he says it "has been good." He wrote in his column for F1:

"Life has been good since I left Haas ahead of this season. These last few weeks are the first time I've switched off from F1 for around a decade. This time has been good for me. The longer time goes on, the more I can see that I stayed at Haas too long."

"When you step away, you get clarity – and you can see what you need to do. While you're there, you're in denial, you think you can do it but you cannot."

The team principal is taking some time away from an active role within any of the ten teams on the field. However, he has taken punditry roles at F1, where he writes columns, and RTL, where he shares his expert opinion in live broadcasts .

Lawrence Barretto

@lawrobarretto

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Delighted to announce we have former F1 team boss and star of Netflix’s Drive to Survive Guenther Steiner as columnist on F1.com this year! formula1.com/en/latest/arti…

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Steiner also explained he might return to one of the ten teams, but he wants to wait for a better opportunity where he will not only fight for P7 in the Championship but the "battle at the front." He added"

"I would come back to F1 in the future, but it needs to be the right project, done right."