Günther Steiner provided plenty of entertainment with his lines in “Drive to Survive” – but how did his family take it?
The Netflix series “Drive to Survive” brings Formula 1 fans very close to the protagonists of the premier class. When Günther Steiner was still Haas Team Principal, he was always entertaining with his quips and achieved cult status. But how did his family react to the South Tyrolean’s appearance on the popular show?
“They know me well enough, but at home I’m a different person – a completely different person,” says Steiner in the Autosport podcast. “But they know me. That’s one of the reasons why I never watched Drive to Survive. I’ve also never asked my wife: ‘What do you think? I don’t even want to know the answer.”
During the first season, Steiner still wondered what his family would think of what he said on camera. “But they never said anything, so I didn’t do anything,” he explains. “My daughter was still very young, eight or nine years old, when people knew my name and greeted me. She asked: ‘Do you know this person? I said, ‘No.’ She asked: ‘Then why do they say hello? You get used to it. “
Glassing through social media
For Steiner’s daughter at school, her father’s fame is both a curse and a blessing, says Steiner. “Sometimes it’s cool, sometimes it’s uncool. It goes both ways. We always try to keep our family life out of my job. Of course, that doesn’t always work with social media, everyone is always there. But we’ve never talked about that.”
Netflix and social media have brought the protagonists of Formula 1 more and more to the fore, not only the drivers but also the team members. “Formula 1 is entertainment, but not a scripted show. It is a show, but nothing is predetermined. I don’t have a script. I do what I do and say what I think, whether you like it or not. That’s entertainment.”
According to Steiner, this is exactly what the fans want. “When I started Formula 1, it was a small sport. People were happy to watch the races. Today, young people are not satisfied with traveling long distances and watching an hour and a half of racing for a lot of money. They want to see the races, but they also want to experience other things. Society today is looking for much more entertainment. “
The fans want a show
According to the motto “give the people what they want”, Steiner wants to offer exactly that. “If you don’t give them that, they’ll look for something else. That’s how you lose the fans. Formula 1 has understood and implemented this since Liberty Media. The race is still the most important thing on a weekend, but a lot of other things happen too.”
Steiner cites Miami and Las Vegas as examples: “There is a lot of entertainment there,” he says. “You can be there at nine in the morning and stay until eight in the evening. During this time, you are at full speed and experience a lot of new things because there is so much going on. That’s what people expect from an event. They want to see the cars, but they also want to do other things. They want to eat well and entertain the children. “
Social media has contributed to this, as the topic has opened up massively since Liberty Media took over the premier class. “People get to see what they want to see. The abnormal, but in a positive way, and that’s why they watch. They don’t just want to see 20 race cars, they want to know why they are on the track and who is driving them,” explains Steiner.
More insights thanks to the digital age
Thanks to the digital age, it is possible to give fans exactly these behind-the-scenes insights via a wide variety of channels. In the past, says Steiner, there was only the race with pre- and post-event coverage. That was it. The writing journalists then edited the stories. Today, however, every second is tracked on cell phones. “You have to fuel that,” says Steiner. “You need the personalities.”
Steiner doesn’t watch Drive to Survive for one reason: he has experienced the situations himself. “I didn’t make anything up for the cameras,” he clarifies. “I just do what I always do.” This is how he has achieved cult status and also created the odd meme. “I usually forget that I’m wearing a microphone.” This is another reason why Steiner never minces his words