"Tells you there’s friction": F1 pundit speculates why Guenther Steiner's comments were absent from Haas' press release
Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle feels a possible friction between Guenther Steiner and Haas team owner Gene Haas led to the lack of response from Steiner.
Steiner was fired from his job as the team principal of the American team on Wednesday, January 10. By letting the German go with immediate effect, Haas and F1, in general, have lost one of the most charismatic figures in the paddock who was bold and straightforward in his opinions.
Taking to his X handle, Martin Brundle hinted at a possible rift between Guenther Steiner and Gene Haas that may have led to Steiner not giving any statement in Haas' press release.
"Always significant when the departing person is not quoted in the press release and tells you there’s friction, suspect we’ll hear more about this. The team hasn’t progressed in recent seasons, but hard to know exactly why without being on the inside. Good luck Guenther and Haas," Brundle speculated.
Haas F1 releases its statement about Guenther Steiner's departure from the team
The American team released a statement, with team owner Gene Haas expressing his views on Guenther Steiner's exit.
Gene Haas expressed his gratitude to Steiner for being the team principal since its very first year in 2016.
“I’d like to start by extending my thanks to Guenther Steiner for all his hard work over the past decade and I wish him well for the future. Moving forward as an organization, it was clear we needed to improve our on-track performances. In appointing Ayao Komatsu as Team Principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management," the statement read (via F1.com).
“We have had some successes, but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organization. We need to be efficient with the resources we have but improving our design and engineering capability is key to our success as a team. I’m looking forward to working with Ayao and fundamentally ensuring that we maximize our potential – this truly reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1,” it continued.
It will be fascinating to see if Haas has any repercussions of letting Steiner go in terms of sponsorships and coverage as the German was very popular amongst the media.
Hopefully, Steiner's replacement Komatsu Can help guide the team back into the midfield and improve its on-track performances by building a more robust and faster car.