Famous status was not a problem for Steiner: 'You can't always plan those things'

Former Haas F1 Team Principal, Guenther Steiner, claimed Haas wouldnot exist without his leadership through difficult times, afterbeing unceremoniously ousted by team owner Gene Haas. The 58year-old spoke for the first time publicly and went into somedetail about how it happened, with him confirming that Haas calledhim and elected not to renew his contract in between Christmas andNew Years. Technical Director Simone Resta, who had been with theteam since 2021, also left in what were two major shakeups weeksbefore their 2024 challenger was unveiled. Steiner recalled how thebusiness model has changed in the last couple of years for F1 teamssince the introduction of the cost cap, prompting the need for Haasto make changes at the top. "It's a fair assessment to say that alot of teams invested in infrastructure when the budget cap wasintroduced," Steiner told Sky Sports . "That's not about spendingmoney, it's an investment to make the best use of the budget cap.So you can use money to make the car faster. "Some people startedright away in 2020 and 2021 and others from last year, but everyoneis doing it. It was one of the things where I looked at the othersand made suggestions." Steiner: Without me, the team would nolonger exist in 2020 When COVID hit it affected a lot of teamsfinances, so much that it nearly caused Haas to drop off the griddue to the high costs associated with F1. "Without me, the teamwouldn't exist in 2020, but Gene owns the team. In the end, he cando whatever he wants. I can accuse him of something, but thatdoesn't accomplish anything. It's his decision," said Steiner.Steiner came to prominence in F1 after his sweary comments in theNetflix series Drive to Survive, making him a target for socialmedia posts and memes. But he never saw that as a problem. "Lookingback on it now, it may have been. Still, my fame earned the team alot of attention and good sponsors, such as Moneygram. They thoughtthat was cool and could use it," he explained. "There are alwayspositive and negative aspects, so maybe someone brought in thenegative. These are things you can't always plan, because I reallywasn't there to seek fame. It happened to me. I got up to work, notto become a famous person." Steiner: I don't care about themanymore Steiner recalled how the business model has changed in thelast couple of years for F1 teams since the introduction of thecost cap, prompting the need for Haas to make changes at the top.“We saw during COVID how much bigger it grew. How much different itgot with the budget cap, how we used the budget cap," said Steinerspeaking at ASI24 . “If you look at all the other teams, they wereall gearing up. They are not gearing up now. They started to gearup, some three years ago, some years ago, some last year. “I don’tknow Gene Haas’s plans for the future. He didn’t share them withme. He doesn’t have to, by the way. “I’m actually not reallyinterested in it anymore.”