Steiner’s ‘lucky’ Red Bull Racing exit ‘best thing that happened’

For Guenther Steiner, moving on from the Red Bull Formula 1 team was the best thing that has happened to him in his life.

That exit opened the door to the United States for Steiner, who was tasked with establishing Red Bull’s presence in NASCAR. He later partnered with American businessman Gene Haas to form the Haas F1 team, as Steiner recalled the help he received to break down Bernie Ecclestone’s initial objections.

Guenther Steiner: Leaving Red Bull Racing ‘worked out perfectly’

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When Red Bull purchased the Jaguar team in 2005, Steiner became the rebranded squad’s technical operations director.

But, when F1 design guru Adrian Newey arrived at Red Bull the following year, Steiner transitioned to the United States and NASCAR, becoming Team Red Bull technical director until 2008.

Reflecting on that period, Steiner says he could not have been happier with how that change played out.

“For me, it worked out perfectly,” he told to FanAmp regarding his departure from the Red Bull F1 team.

“It became crowded, and for me, now looking back, that was my lucky moment when I left, because it opened, for me, the door to the States.

“I always wanted to live in the States when I was younger, but never could because you need a work visa, and it opened that avenue.

“Once I was here, now you cannot get rid of me anymore!

“I opened my own company, a composite company. Now we’ve got 300 people, which is pretty a successful company. Then it gave me the opportunity to start an F1 team.

“If I would have done the same in Europe, I wouldn’t have succeeded because I wouldn’t have found an investor. And if I would have tried out of Europe to find an American investor, I don’t think he would have done it with me because it’s too far away, it’s too far apart in the world.

“And I needed to learn the American culture, to find somebody to speak the same language, because if I speak European culture to an American businessman, he’s not going to do business with me. And for me, it was the best thing that happened in my life, to leave Red Bull.”

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Steiner returned to the Formula 1 scene in the mid 2010s. He Secured funding from Gene Haas, and built an F1 team from scratch, which included interviewing staff and securing the Dallara and Ferrari partnerships, which continue to prove vital for the team.

Haas hit the grid in 2016, after overcoming scepticism from F1’s then commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone.

“The most difficult part was to get Bernie Ecclestone on board, to believe in it,” Steiner said.

“Because there were so many people trying to start a team, somehow, for him, it was like, ‘Not another one that wants to start a team,’ and just one team failed, a few were struggling, ‘I don’t want these people around me.’

“Bernie was quite direct, and I had to convince him that it was actually a solid go at it. It ended up to be the most solid of all of it, because [Haas was] the only team that was left from that era, which was new.

“So, to convince him was the most difficult [part].

“But, without the help of friends like Niki Lauda and Stefano [Domenicali, Ferrari team boss from 2008-14 and now Formula 1 president], Bernie would not have said yes to me.”

Steiner went on to reveal there member where, in his opinion, Ecclestone changed his mind.

“It was the moment when Niki said, ‘If Guenther does it, we’ll be alright.’ He asked Stefano, Stefano said it was alright.

“The FIA, at the time, Jean Todt was the president, he knew me from the Red Bull days, he believed that I can do it, because it was more a belief if you can do it or not.

“That is when he saw that there was enough money which Gene Haas put in and that I can do it. That’s what made it click.

“But without the help of Niki, Stefano and Jean Todt, Bernie would not have agreed to it. And another guy which supported me a lot was Charlie Whiting, the technical director at the time of the FIA, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago.”

Steiner served as Haas team boss until the end of 2023, after which his contract was not renewed, and Ayao Komatsu was installed as the new team principal.

However, during his time in charge of the squad, the popularity of Formula 1 skyrocketed, as did the value of the teams.

Steiner therefore admits that, in hindsight, he would look for an ownership stake in the organisation.

Yet, Steiner acknowledged that he did not have the finances behind him at the time to become a Haas F1 team shareholder, so he cannot grumble.

“But if I would have known that the teams would be worth, within five years, billions of dollars, obviously you would make yourself more valuable,” he concluded.

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