Guenther Steiner’s time at Haas was memorable, and it turned him into a global star. But it had little to do with his results on the track, ultimately leading to his dismissal. As seen on the latest season of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, Steiner received a piece of advice related to his career, just months before his sacking. The man who gave him this advice was Mattia Binotto, who himself got sacked by Ferrari in 2022.
Steiner and Binotto’s friendship is strong, and the two Italians opened season 5 of Drive to Survive. After Binotto’s Ferrari departure, many thought he wouldn’t be featured in the latest installment, but the producers included him. Steiner drove to a serene vineyard in the countryside, which turned out to be Binotto’s.
After catching up on life briefly, Binotto urged the 58-year-old to slow down.
“You don’t have to justify if you finish last or second last. It’s all about slowing down Guenther.”
Steiner was under a lot of pressure throughout 2023, owing to Haas’ underwhelming performance on the track. Binotto asked Steiner to take things easy, as the latter was contemplating a future away from F1. In the end, Steiner did end up leaving Haas and Formula 1 altogether.
Did Guenther Steiner leave on his own terms?
When Steiner’s dismissal became official, the common knowledge was that Gene Haas sacked him over a phone call in December. However, according to Jack Plooji of Ziggi Sport, the Italian-American left on his own terms. Steiner reportedly secured a big sponsorship deal for Haas but wanted shares in return for his work from the owner.
Gene Haas rejected this proposal, and an unhappy Steiner left the team. Even in the latest season of Drive to Survive, Steiner kept insisting that he didn’t want to remain in F1 for the sake of it. He had been leading Haas for a long time, and without results to show for that, his work felt meaningless.
As of now, he has no plans of returning to F1 in a managerial role but is happy to take up commentary duties this season with German broadcaster RTL.
