Guenther Steiner hasn't had an opportunity to bid farewell to Haas factory teammates: Reports
F1 pundit Craig Slater has reported that Guenther Steiner has not yet been able to go to the Haas factory to bid farewell to all the team members after he was relieved of his team principal duties. The American team recently announced his departure, which shook the entire F1 space.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Slater said that he contacted a few team members from the team and found out that Steiner himself knew about his departure sometime late in December but has not yet got the chance to bid a proper farewell to the team. The F1 pundit further claimed that Steiner is still in the UK, and the fact that his contract will not be renewed could have come as a surprise to him.
"When I checked in with the Haas team today with people I speak to there, they've told me that Guenther Steiner found out about this towards the end of December. He hasn't had an opportunity to go and say his goodbyes at the factory. He is still in the UK at the moment; that's interesting as well. [It must be] a surprise to him that he would not be getting his contract renewed," Slater said.
Guenther Steiner worked with the Kannapolis-based team from 2017 to 2023. Unfortunately for them, the team hasn't been able to bag any podiums or wins since it was created in 2016.
Gene Haas on his F1 team's performance and parting ways with Guenther Steiner
Gene Haas spoke to Lawrence Barretto of F1.com about the recent team principal changes in his F1 team and the overall performance since 2016. Even though he did not put any blame on Steiner, Haas was not at all happy with his team finishing ninth and 10th in the Constructors' championship the last two years.
“Here we are in our eighth year, over 160 races – we have never had a podium. The last couple of years, we’ve been 10th or ninth. I’m not sitting here saying it’s Guenther’s fault, or anything like that, but it just seems like this was an appropriate time to make a change and try a different direction, because it doesn’t seem like continuing with what we had is really going to work,” he explained.
Steiner was replaced by Ayao Komatsu, who will be taking over Haas' reigns in the 2024 F1 season.