How former team boss Günther Steiner assesses the first Grands Prix of his former racing team Haas in the 2024 Formula 1 season and what Haas is currently doing “wrong “
In the first three races without Günther Steiner, Formula 1 Team Haas has already scored four points in the 2024 season and is in seventh place in the world championship. Steiner himself is relaxed about this: “I don’t have a bad feeling about it. I’m actually pretty happy when the team scores points. “
He ultimately knows when the foundations for the current Formula 1 results were laid, namely “last year”, when Steiner himself was still Haas Team Principal. “The car was ready before I left. It had already been assembled. And the team worked very, very hard for the car that is now running.” He can therefore only attest to the “good work” of his former team.
The current results are no surprise to him, Steiner emphasizes: “I always told Gene Haas that I actually knew exactly where the team would end up. I knew the figures from the wind tunnel.”
However, under its new team principal Ayao Komatsu, Haas deliberately decided to “downplay” the performance of the VF-24, says Steiner. “That was an excuse for the start. And then it went better than expected. But in my eyes that was wrong.”
“Of course you can say year after year: ‘We’re bad. And then you’re better. But in my eyes, it’s not so much about this year, but about the medium-term perspective.” However, Steiner says nothing more about this medium-term perspective, except: “Only time will tell what happens in the future.”
at Haas.
Steiner’s time as team principal at Haas
Steiner himself first initiated the Formula 1 project of US businessman Gene Haas and accompanied it for many years as team principal. However, after initial successes with P5 in the 2018 constructors’ championship, the team plummeted to the bottom of the standings, finishing last in both 2021 and 2023.
Steiner left Haas in December and now works as a TV pundit, among other things. Steiner will also take on a new role as brand ambassador for the Miami Grand Prix for the 2024 season
