Guenther Steiner spent eight seasons with Haas after leading them into Formula 1 at the start of the 2016 season.
He became a Netflix star in the Drive to Survive series renowned for his frank approach and sweary outbursts.
Steiner departed as Haas team principal before the 2024 season began and was replaced by Ayao Komatsu, who has done a terrific job turning the team’s fortunes around.
They finished seventh in the Constructors’ Standings this year and managed to completely transform a car which was known for being terrible in race trim during Steiner’s time as boss.
They’re much kinder on their tyres now and the acquisition of F1 race-winner Esteban Ocon for 2025 should help them make further progress.
Haas also signed Oliver Bearman who is an exciting young talent and could be with them for a few seasons as he develops.
F1 fans claim Guenther Steiner was Haas’ main ‘problem’
With Steiner in charge, things were turbulent at best for Haas as they spent the majority of the seasons he was in charge competing at the bottom of the midfield.
In 2023 the project started to show positive signs of life and they started to become much more consistent. It coincided with the arrival of Nico Hulkenberg who has just departed the team to join rivals Sauber for 2025.
Steiner isn’t much of a fan of their recent improvements though, and recently discussed the aspirations of his former employer.
“My feeling is that Mr Haas is content to be in the second half of the standings and simply participate,” he told Ouest-France.
READ MORE: The ‘funny’ thing Ayao Komatsu used to do to ‘wind up’ some of his Haas employees
It led fans to respond passionately on X (formerly known as Twitter) to his comments about the current trajectory of the team.
One user wrote: ” Steiner was absolutely the problem. And dare I say but I feel like the whole Drive to Survive fame turned into a massive distraction for him (not unlike Ricciardo).
“To me, he was too busy swearing at everyone to push the team forward. Komatsu has done an amazing job with the team.”
Another said: “Having spent an entire weekend with the team, and getting to know how the whole Toyota thing is planned and what they’re doing.. I can assure you all… Steiner was the problem.”
READ MORE: Anthony Davidson details his ‘only concern’ for Haas after what he spotted at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
This fan took to the platform to share his ‘unpopular take’ and said: “My unpopular opinion I started to have 4-5 years ago is that Steiner is entertaining but his whole shtick was getting old and didn’t seem very productive.”
Someone else said: “He was the problem. He kept a job for being a non-performer,” while another fan came to Steiner’s defence: “I think Gunther was a proper guy to start it, to make first hard choices in the steps building the team. After that he became a bit of a character.”
And finally, one fan couldn’t decide which side of the fence to sit on: “Yup.. credit for him for getting it all sorted for the deals with Ferrari and Dallara and for setting everything up. But for the daily operations, it should have been someone else. As we’ve seen this year.”
Can Haas improve further and compete for Formula 1 podiums?
As the likes of Alpine and Sauber have proven in the past, making the jump from Formula 1’s midfield to the front is a huge step.
McLaren did it all in one go last year, proving that the previously impossible was doable before going on to win the Constructors’ title this year.
It’s not to say that should be Haas’ aim, but with a solid Ferrari engine and a new partnership with Toyota, the outlook is far more promising than it was a few seasons ago when they were the slowest on the grid.
READ MORE: Daniel Ricciardo’s camp issue two-word response to Toyota rumours after Haas F1 tie-up
Ocon noticed Haas have things Alpine were missing when he toured the factory, which is a positive note for him to start on.
If they can put those resources and the infrastructure to good use, then expect to see them contending for a podium or two on the odd occasion very soon.
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