Red Bull Formula 1 advisor Helmut Marko believes Guenther Steiner became a “victim of his popularity” after hearing his Haas exit related to wanting to gain shares in the team.
Haas announced last week that Steiner, who had been with the American squad since its inception in 2014, would be succeeded in the Team Principal role by Ayao Komatsu.
Steiner’s contract was not renewed beyond the end of 2023 after Haas had plummeted to the bottom of the Constructors’ standings with a total of 12 points from 22 rounds.
The Italian had developed into one of the most celebrated team bosses on the entire grid over recent years amid his starring part in the hit Netflix Drive to Survive docuseries.
That increased popularity had witnessed Steiner publish a book documenting Haas’ 2022 season, while American network CBS was also planning a TV comedy with him.
However, Marko reports that he overheard Steiner had been lobbying to use his rise to prominence to hold stakes in the team, much to the dissatisfaction of owner Gene Haas.
“Let’s put it this way: anyone who becomes too popular through a documentary like Netflix tends to take off,” Marko told F1-Insider.com. “But if you fly too high too fast, you also crash faster.
“I’ve only heard that he wanted to convert his popularity into shares in the team. And that no longer appealed to owner Gene Haas.
“It is also the case in our sport that the team always takes precedence over the individual. Steiner became a victim of his popularity.”
Haas had experienced trouble last season with excessive tyre degradation in race trim, but even the introduction of a revised B-spec car in Austin failed to inspire improvement.
Franz Tost, who retired from his long-serving position as team boss at AlphaTauri, reckons that Steiner paid the ultimate price for the Kannapolis-based camp’s failed upgrades.
“I got on very well with Guenther, both personally and professionally,” Tost, touted to be named a Red Bull consultant, added. “He was an expert on our sport. That’s all I want to say.
“The pressure in Formula 1 is brutal. If a further development of a car doesn’t work in the middle of the season, people are looking for someone to blame.”
Speaking at Autosport International, Steiner admitted that he had not anticipated his departure, adding that he had not been given the chance to say goodbye to colleagues.
The 58-year-old also asserted that “nobody in the team is proud to be 10th” after Gene Haas claimed that it was “embarrassing” the side “haven’t been able to do better” lately.
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