(Motorsport-Total.com) – Günther Steiner shaped the Haas team for almost a decade like hardly anyone else. His statements about the current relationship with Gene Haas are all the more remarkable. Almost three years after his departure, the South Tyrolean confirms that there is now no contact between him and the team owner.
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Steiner had to leave the US racing team at the end of 2023 after his contract was not extended. His successor was Ayao Komatsu, who has been leading the team as team principal since then. There was much speculation at the time about the reasons for the separation. Now Steiner describes how the relationship with Haas changed over the years.
“At the beginning, we agreed on most things,” Steiner reports in the podcast “High Performance.” It was only after the Corona pandemic that the relationship gradually changed. “I think after 2020 our relationship began to deteriorate when the team had difficulties getting back on its feet after the COVID crisis.”
Connection broken
However, there was never a specific trigger. Instead, contact between the two became increasingly rare. “We constantly had disagreements, but we always found a way to resolve them, like in any relationship. After a while, we just spoke less and less.”
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Today the connection is completely broken. When asked who he still has contact with in the Formula 1 paddock, Steiner answers: “I have a very good relationship with most people. I would say, not with Gene Haas.”
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However, the 61-year-old does not want to speak of a personal falling out. “It’s not a bad relationship. We simply have no relationship anymore. That’s all,” Steiner explains. “We have settled our affairs. I go my way, he goes his. I’m quite happy without him, and he’s quite happy without me.”
Complete closure
Despite his departure, Steiner shows understanding for the team founder’s decision. In the end, Gene Haas as owner naturally had the final say. “You have to respect the man who owns everything,” says Steiner. “After all, he pays for everything. There is the saying: ‘He who pays, decides.’ You have to accept that.”
At the same time, Steiner makes it clear that he has closed the chapter on his time at Haas. “I can decide about my own career just as well,” says the South Tyrolean, emphasizing that a new chapter has now begun for both sides.
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