“In my day, when only performance counted…,” Bernie Ecclestone gives a scathing verdict on Guenther Steiner after Haas exit

Guenther Steiner was released from his position as team principal of Haas as his contract was not renewed into the 2024 season.

“In my day, when only performance counted…,” Bernie Ecclestone gives a scathing verdict on Guenther Steiner after Haas exit

Bernie Ecclestone and Guenther Steiner (Via IMAGO)

Guenther Steiner was the team principal of Haas ever since the team joined the F1 grid in 2015, heading the American outfit to disappointing results. Steiner was let go from the position after his contract ended, and his departure was announced in early 2024.

Steiner’s lack of results had been scrutinized for many years, but none expected his exit from the team. Now, Bernie Ecclestone has delivered an extremely critical analysis of Steiner’s time with the team, claiming Steiner’s only popularity came from his portrayal in the media which came in severe contrast with his terrible performance.

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There has never been a more unsuccessful team boss in Formula 1 who nevertheless became a superstar thanks to a US documentary. In my day, when only performance counted, that never happened.
Bernie Ecclestone said, as reported by formulapassion.it

Ecclestone himself headed Formula 1 for many years and recently came under controversy for an incident in 2008. After the British former head of F1 admitted he knew about the Crashgate scandal, Felipe Massa took it as a basis to launch a lawsuit to claim the world championship of 2008.

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Guenther Steiner admits Haas’ sacking was out of the blue

Guenther Steiner’s time with Haas had been a colorful one until he was let go, with many controversial moments but never any real results he could boast of. Steiner’s contract with the team was not continued as Gene Haas decided to move on to new staff to try and attain better results.

Gunther Steiner
Gunther Steiner (via IMAGO)

Steiner was a major part of gaining sponsors for Haas, as his depiction as one of the protagonists of the Netflix drama series Drive to Survive drew a lot of public attention to the team. The Austrian claims the announcement that his contract wouldn’t be renewed was unprecedented despite bad results in 2023.

Obviously nobody was happy with the results in 2023 but I didn’t see this coming. I knew that the renewal of my contract was coming up and then when a renewal is coming up it can be that it’s not getting renewed.
Guenther Steiner said, as reported by The Hindu

Haas finished dead last in the championship in 2023 despite the skilled and experienced driver pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. Haas will be hoping to move on to better results in the coming 2024 season.

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