Guenther Steiner was a very outspoken Team Principal, who always expected the best from his drivers during his time at Haas. He would be visibly upset, and wouldn’t hold back on his words if they messed up. But that doesn’t mean he had a lot of idea as to what they were doing, as evidenced by his recent comments.
Continuing with his series of appearances across different podcasts, Steiner stopped by the Road to Success podcast hosted by Ben Fowler. There, the Italian-American revealed that even though he led several F1 drivers over the years, he possesses no racing talent himself.
“I cannot race myself,” he said. Steiner also ‘thanked god’ after that, hinting that his behavior would not look good on a racing driver.
Steiner was referring to his personality, which includes a tendency to swear frequently and lose his temper — traits that have been widely documented in Netflix’s Drive to Survive documentary. As a driver, they wouldn’t be ideal, which is likely why Steiner never went in that direction in his life.
Perfect time to bring this belter of a moment back. God bless the Guenter Steiner and KMag relationship. pic.twitter.com/XRi9uZwpwn
— DR (@DR__Selik) March 9, 2022
Fowler asked Steiner if he had ever been in a racing car, to which the 59-year-old said no. “No, I am not a driver, no.” Steiner took up engineering as a student but dropped out to become a mechanic for Mazda in the World Rallying Championship in 1986.
From there onwards, he climbed the ranks, gained valuable insight into the world of racing and motorsports, and became a natural leader — something he insisted he had to work very hard for. Steiner eventually reached F1 in 2001 with Jaguar.
After a brief stint with the team when it transitioned to Red Bull, the hot-headed boss from Merano took charge of a team for the first time — Haas — in 2016. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out for him. In 2023, the team cited poor results as the reason for removing him from his role, after which he began working in media.
