Guenther Steiner has claimed that he has ‘no interest’ in Gene Haas’ Formula One plans after he was not given a new contract by the team for 2024, and he doesn’t expect to be informed of them either. The former team principal was told of the decision via a phone call during the Christmas period, with Ayao Komatsu succeeding him in the role.
Steiner spent 10 years with Haas, building the team up with his business model to be able to compete on the biggest of stages. However, with his contract expiring, a decision was made by owner Gene to take the team in a different direction.
Earlier this week, he announced: “Moving forward, it was clear we needed to improve our on-track performances. We have had successes but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organisation. In appointing Ayao Komatsu, we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.”
The shake-up has left many questioning how Haas will operate going forward, and Steiner is not even aware of what to expect from the team. Speaking about his exit at Autosport International, the Italian explained: “Since we have had this model, Formula 1 has changed a lot. We saw during COVID how much bigger it grew. How much different it got with the budget cap, how we used the budget cap.
“If you look at all the other teams, they were all gearing up. They are not gearing up now. They started to gear up, some three years ago, some years ago, some last year. I don’t know Gene Haas’s plans for the future. He didn’t share them with me. He doesn’t have to, by the way. I’m actually not really interested in it anymore.
“On the other side, I see where other people are going and the model we started in the beginning, I think it was a very good model, but maybe it’s not time relevant anymore. But who am I to say that?”
Steiner went on to insist that he would be open to returning to F1 once he has enjoyed a break from all of the action, explaining: “Now at the moment, I’m very chilled out about the situation. I’m not unhappy and I know a lot of people, I’ve got a lot of friends and for me just hanging around for a year doing the odd job, that does it for me.
“If something interesting comes along which challenges me, yes, but just staying in Formula 1 just to do a job, maybe is not what I want to do. I like to be with people but it needs to be something where I can see a future in it. I don’t just want to go there and then move on to the next thing. I want to do something where you can achieve something and you try to get somewhere and then I will do it.”
