Earlier this month, ex-Haas team principal Guenther Steiner praised Max Verstappen with his ‘equal cars‘ comment. The Italian-American declared that the three-time world champion would come out on top even if the field ran equal cars through the season. Now, Steiner has also praised Verstappen’s arch nemesis, Lewis Hamilton. The former Haas team principal believes that Hamilton will not retire anytime soon, and has lauded the Briton’s commitment to sticking on for so long.
FormulaPassion.it quoted Steiner as opining, “I don’t think Lewis will stop racing anytime soon. He loves what he does, he has won seven titles, and is still motivated. He is a very important driver for Formula 1.”
Despite believing that Verstappen is invincible currently, Steiner urged to not lose sight of Hamilton’s achievements in the sport and his monumental presence as a seven-time world champion. It’s no secret that Formula 1 is as much about physical fitness as it is about mental tenacity.
While commenting on what makes Hamilton so special, Steiner remarked that he would never even think the Briton was 38 or 39. For the Italian-American, Hamilton is at the peak of his physicality and fitness.
However, if fitness is ignored, Steiner still believes that Verstappen is the benchmark in the sport currently. While appearing at the Autosport International Show, Steiner was posed with the question of who would win if F1 had a ‘spec-car‘ concept. Steiner without hesitation replied Verstappen as his man of choice.
Guenther Steiner isn’t known for mincing his words. However, now that he doesn’t have the burden of shouldering a Formula 1 team in front of the media, he can ‘open‘ up a bit more.
What caused the private fallout between Guenther Steiner and Gene Haas?
Guenther Steiner quickly became a paddock and media favorite for his strong and bold opinions. And seldom did he shy away from expressing them, no matter who he upset. As it turns out, this could very well be the reason for his sacking at Haas.
There’s no doubt about the fact that Steiner was running the show at Haas. Despite Gene being the owner, Steiner was the one in the limelight attracting all sorts of attention to the team. This reportedly made Haas take a rash decision to axe him.
According to what Gene Haas said to the media, the reason for sacking Steiner was pretty simple – the team needed to take stock of affairs and move out of the slump that they were in under the Italian-American’s stewardship.
That being said, with Steiner now gone, the team might find themselves in dire straits. With newly incumbent Ayao Komatsu barely getting to grips with his new role as team principal, he has a mountain to climb at the helm of Haas during the 2024 F1 season.
