Farewell Guenther! Team Principal of a Bunch of Wankers

Let’s clear one thing up .. Steiner isn’t German. He was born April 7, 1965 in Merano Italy.

BEFORE HAAS

Steiner didn’t just “arrive” in Formula 1. He’s had a career spanning nearly 30 years that took him across the globe. His professional career started in rallying, where in 1986 he joined the Mazda Rally Team Europe as a mechanic. It was a year where the team made the jump from racing Mazda RX-7s in Group B of the World Rally Championship to Group A where they were preparing the new Mazda 323 four-wheel drive car.

“I learned English in a pub. I didn’t learn it in school”

The team of seven, including Steiner, were tasked to build one of the team’s two Group A Mazda 323s. By 1987 in just their second season in Group A, the team experienced their first win in the Swedish Rally, a 14th place in the Driver World Championship and 6th in the Manufacturers World Championship.

In 1989 he headed to Top Run Srl where he became assistant team manager. Responsible for organising and running private entrants in various rally championships with Group N cars. One of the drivers, Belgian Grégoire De Mévius finished runner-up in Group N of the WRC driving a Mazda 323 in both 1989 and 1990.

Steiners next position was head of reconnaissance for the Jolly Club Spa Group A team which he headed up for the 1991 and 1992 World Rally Championship seasons. The team campaigned Lancia Delta Integrale 16Vs and helped Lancia to win the Manufacturers World Championships in both Seasons.

In an interview with Eric Silbermann for f1i.com, Steiner reflected on that time in motorsport “It was a great car and a great time and I was at an age when I was up and coming and working with one of the biggest teams with a big budget. There were no constraints; as long as you were going to win it was fine. There was no limit on spending and, at the time, we had more money than sense. We would never run out of money, we would run out of ideas. Now you have to be more careful, but back then, if something made you go faster you did it.”

“You have to work hard for envy. You get pity for free. I wish the others would be green with envy because that means we did a very good job”

By 1994, Steiner was Jolly Club Spa’s technical manager, responsible for all technical aspects of the two Ford Escort RS Cosworth teams that competed in Group A of the World Rally Championship. Italian driver Gianfranco Cunico and co-driver Stefano Evangelisti went on to win back-to-back Italian Rally Championships in 1994 and 1995. In 1996, Cunico teamed with Pierangelo Scalvini to score the team’s third straight Italian Rally Championship.

Steiner moved to Banbury, Oxfordshire, U.K., in 1997 to join Prodrive as the team manager for its Allstar Rally Team. Steiner led the new team to the European Championship in just its first season with driver Krzysztof Holowczyc.

After his one year with Prodrive, Steiner was recruited to join M-Sport in Millbrook, Bedfordshire, U.K., as the project manager for the team’s Ford Focus fleet that competed in the World Rally Championship. By the middle of 1998, Ford chose M-Sport to design and build its new Ford Focus World Rally Car. Steiner began taking more of a leadership role to establish technical facilities and assume overall management of the new car’s development. Steiner found new offices and workshops, recruited 10 engineers, five technicians and developed the new car in eight months and, most importantly, within budget.

The new car appeared in 1999 with British driver Colin McRae and immediately grabbed headlines for recording the fastest stage times during the Monte Carlo Rally – the new team’s first event. M-Sport scored its first World Rally Championship victory in its third event of the season at the Safari Rally in Kenya. A month later, McRae scored his second win in a row at the Rally of Portugal. Steiner led the team to a fourth-place finish in the Manufacturer World Championship and McRae finished sixth in the Driver World Championship.

Following the 1999 World Rally Championship, Steiner was promoted to director of engineering for M-Sport. He took on an increased leadership role as he moved the team into a new headquarters to better integrate all the technical staff responsible for the development of the Ford Focus World Rally Car. In 2000, Steiner worked with McRae and Spanish driver Carlos Sainz to finish second overall in the Manufacturer World Championship, while Sainz finished third and McRae fourth in the Driver World Championship.

In 2001, the M-Sport Ford Focus teams led by Steiner again finished second in the Manufacturer World Championship. McRae finished second in the Driver World Championship, trailing fellow British driver Richard Burns by just two points in the series championship. Sainz finished 11 points behind Burns and sixth overall.

ARRIVAL IN FORMULA 1

Steiner’s managerial and technical talent caught the eye of Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda, who recruited him to join Jaguar Racing as the team’s managing director. Steiner oversaw the restructuring of the team and implemented efficiencies and budget cuts in advance of the 2002 season. Steiner’s drivers that year were Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa, and the highlight of the 2002 season came when Irvine finished third in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

A management shakeup within Jaguar Racing following the 2002 season caused Steiner to take a gardening leave. He missed the entire 2003 season, joining Opel Performance Centre in late 2003.

In February 2005, he joined Red Bull Racing as technical operations director. His people management skills were put to the test where had to manager a group of more than 350 people with a budget in excess of $200 million. When Red Bull Racing purchased the former Jaguar team that Steiner worked for from 2001 until 2003, they put him back in charge of the restructuring process he had started a few years earlier.

AS the Red bull Racing project got up and running and moving in a positive direction, Steiner was shifted across to the formation of a new NASCAR Cup Series team in Mooresville, North Carolina. In April 2006, starting with a clean sheet of paper and no employees or equipment, Steiner built Team Red Bull into an organization that employed more than 200 people with a budget in excess of $50 million.

HAAS F1 AND THE 29 POINT SEASON

When Gene Haas began exploring the logistics of creating a Formula 1 team, he tabbed Steiner to lead the effort. The man who had been building throughout his racing career was in charge of building the first American Formula 1 team since 1986 in the role of team principal. The outfit debuted in 2016 and Steiner delivered. Haas F1 Team finished its inaugural season eighth in the constructor standings with a total of 29 points, the most of any new team in this millennium.

Haas F1 Team scored 93 points in 2018 to finish fifth in the constructors’ standings – its best season to-date in Formula 1. The 2022 season brought about renewed hope and motivation within the team, with Steiner at the helm of the comeback.

The previous year was always going to be a challenge for the team, with funding and efforts deliberately being directed to its successor, meaning the VF-21 had zero upgrades or development for the entire season. Following a late driver change and the termination of the then current title sponsor, Haas drafted in stalwart Kevin Magnussen back to the squad, and with it a reinvigorated team for the longest season in Formula 1 history.

2023 was a year to forget for Haas F1, finishing bottom of the pile leaving many questions to be asked about the future of Haas F1 and ultimately Guenther’s 8 year reign as team principal.

DRIVE TO SURVIVE INFAMY

Love it or hate it, Netflix’s Drive to Survive has propelled Formula 1 and the various personalities of key people into the spotlight of mainstream audiences in a big way. One of the biggest personalities was without doubt Guenther.

The unfiltered comments, without the “creative control” that some other teams put in place led to Formula 1 fans had anyone who watched Drive to Survive getting a thick book of Guenther quotes. From his “misheard”, so says Steiner, quote of “Last year, for two points, I would have fucked the whole paddock”, to consistent use of “Fuck” which in his accent came out as “Fok” that would have any seasoned drinking game participant regretting their life choices.

Steiner who once could wander the paddock freely, rarely stepped foot towards it as it would take him 20 minutes due to getting mobbed for selfies by fans. Steiner recognised the value of the fans, but also was a realist in knowing that he had a job to do so would give what he could, whilst focusing on his job.

So if you’re still here with us, here’s some of our favourite Guenther Steiner moments!

The whole video below is a great watch, but the 2 minute 14 mark is pure Steiner!