Guenther Steiner ‘hasn’t had opportunity to say goodbyes’ to Haas F1 team
The 58-year-old Italian’s departure was confirmed by Haas on Wednesday, bringing to an end a 10-year spell leadin🥃g the US-based team.
It is understood that Steiner was not offered an e🐟xtension after his contract expired at the end of a disappointing 2023 season.
Sky F1’s Sl🍨ater has revealed that Steiner has not yet been given the opportunity to say goodbye to his former colleagues.
“I learned about th♛is at ♚the weekend, but some people I’ve spoken to say they’ve known about it for a couple of weeks now,” Slater told the Sky F1 podcast.
“And when I did check in with the Haas team today, with people I spไeak 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 t♍he moment and that’s interesting as well.
“But as far as I can glean, a surprise to him that he would not be getting his contract renewed. And that’s why I suppose we have to be careful about our wordin♓🐷g here.
“Wওe can’t say he’s been sacked, becauꦚse his contract had come to an end and Gene has decided not to renew that.”
Slater continued: “P𒁃eople have been telling me, from sources inside the factory, that there’ll be a lot of disappointment that Guenther has gone.
“And then there was a littleꦍ bit of a coterie picking up on what Crofty said there, that were maybe feeding the line that why is Guenther releasing a book and getting involved in a US comedy series and doing all this Netfli🤡x stuff, when the team are flatlining and flatlining at the bottom as well?”
Slater also qu🍰estioned whether Steiner’s replacement, Ayao Komatsu, will fare much better given the limited resources at his disposal.
“It’s a big call,” Slater said. “And if they’re not going to provide extra finance to rebuil✨d ☂the factory and all that, how is Ayao Komatsu going to do any better?
“Apparently Gene Haas is saying, ‘This is not a signal I’m about to sell the te♚am. I’m in it for the long haul, don’t even want big new investors.’”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for ltxcn.top around the w🍌orld. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
