Haas F1 Team left all of its fans in shock after announcing the exit of Guenther Steiner in early 2024. Guenther has been with this team ever since its inception, so it was unexpected and heartbreaking to see one of the team’s oldest members leave out of nowhere.
Owned by Gene Haas, the F1 Team was established in 2014 but was able to debut with their first race after two years. While Haas had a great start in the sport by coming in the top spots when it first entered the championship, the team’s popularity eventually started to fall as the years went on.
Haas also lost most of its fans after scoring the bottom positions in the last few seasons of Formula One. This could have been one of the major reasons for Guenther’s sudden departure, but there are a lot of rumors about why the popular and iconic team principal left the team abruptly.
Why Did Steiner Leave Haas? Reason Behind The Exit
A new era of Haas begins soon as Steiner steps down from his years-long role. Ever since it entered F1, Steiner played an important role in bringing Haas to fame and making it score high ranks in each championship.
With time, Haas’s popularity ended as each of the team’s performances were good enough but nothing exciting. The F1 team failed to live up to its former image and started experiencing all sorts of financial challenges and other issues concerning its drivers.
After months of contemplation, Gene Haas has decided to let go of Guenther Steiner as the main team principal. Haas supposedly revealed the news to Steiner through a phone call in December 2023.
In Guenther’s first appearance since the announcement, he revealed that his contract with Haas which was made in 2014 had expired, and although they could renew it for another few years, Gene didn’t want to go ahead with it.
Instead of renewing the contract, Haas shifted Ayao Komatsu to the role of the team principal. Ayao Komatsu has worked with Haas for the same amount of time as Guenther, although he was the trackside engineering director.
The fact that Guenther was having problems with the head of the team was well known, but no one saw Guenther’s exit coming at any moment. Steiner played a massive role in making Haas what it is now; helping it become a team with a great debut and giving it a face within the public.
Guenther had earlier revealed that his team was not financially benefiting by working under Gene Haas. Many believe that instead of giving Guenther what he was asking for, Gene Haas decided to remove him and place someone more compliant in his position.
Guenther wanted the team to be better financially compensated so that they could give the championship their all without holding back. He also helped Haas gain more popularity by participating in Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive To Survive“, due to which he eventually became nothing less than a celebrity.
Steiner’s frequent swearing and outspoken personality led him to become one of the stars of the show. There are also rumors that Guenther became too famous for his good and had to be removed. While this remains nothing more than a piece of gossip, it’s still sad to see Steiner leave without even giving a proper goodbye to his team.
Gene Haas owns the F1 team and Steiner believes that he has all the right to not start a new contract if he wishes so. While Guenther may have been the face of Haas, he wasn’t able to give the team any significant wins in recent years. Haas’s scores have been declining since the debut and it was high time that a change happened that could shake things up.
Guenther Steiner: What’s Next For The Former F1 Principal?
Guenther reveals that the exit was completely amicable, and he now looks forward to spending time with his family. Living in Mooresville, North Carolina, Steiner has been happily married to Gertraud Steiner since a long time.
Working with Haas day and night led Steiner to not fully be there for his family or make any fun memories. Even though his daughter, Greta, is now 14, Guenther has barely spent any time with her and hopes to use this free time as a way to make up for all of the missed days.
Guenther may not return to the F1 world anytime soon due to an alleged clause in his contract, but the Netflix F1 icon might just get to fulfill his bucket list and do more of what he couldn’t since the last decade.
