Former Haas Formula 1 boss Guenther Steiner asserts that “nobody in the team is proud to be 10th” after Gene Haas referred to its plight in 2023 as “embarrassing”.
Haas announced on Wednesday that Steiner’s contract had not been renewed, with the Italian vacating the position he had held since the team entered F1 back in 2016.
Steiner was relieved from his duties after Haas had endured a challenging campaign that witnessed the team drop to last place in the Constructors’ standings with 12 points.
The Kannapolis-based squad encountered trouble with an aerodynamic concept that had hit a development ceiling and excessive tyre degradation woes, with Kevin Magnussen’s 10th place in Singapore Haas’ only point scored in the last 17 grands prix.
Despite introducing a radically updated B-spec car that converted it to the popular downwash sidepod solution, America’s sole F1 entry still struggled in the closing rounds.
Team owner Gene Haas explained that he had been left “embarrassed” that the side “haven’t been able to do better” with the technical relationship it shares with Ferrari.
When asked at Autosport International in Birmingham about those comments via PlanetF1, Steiner countered: “If he feels like this, that’s his feeling and he can say it.
“Obviously, nobody in the team is proud to be 10th. We didn’t have a good season in ’23, we all know that.
“But in my opinion, when you’re down it’s not how you get down [but] how you get up again.
“That’s just my life motto and that is what you have to think about: to not be embarrassed about anything, just keep on going and make it better.”
When pressed on whether he had any advice to his former colleagues, Steiner answered: “I would say to the to the team: just keep on working. There’s a lot of good people there.
“Just keep your head down and keep on digging. You will get there.”
The 58-year-old also conceded he is “not really interested” in Haas’ prospects, with Ayao Komatsu, previously Head of Trackside Engineering, now being handed the reins.
It has been touted that Steiner and Gene Haas had clashed on their view of the team, with the latter insistent on it becoming more efficient while not allocating extra resources.
With Haas operating by taking as many non-listed parts from Ferrari as permitted by the regulations, Steiner has questioned whether that model still works in F1’s modern era.
“I think the model we had in Formula 1, 10 years ago, when we started – Formula 1 has changed a lot,” Steiner explained.
“Formula 1 changed a lot after the COVID period – how much it grew, how much bigger it got, how much different it got with the budget cap and how to use the budget cap to get ideas and how to do things.”
