Title sponsorship issues, disputes over the car’s design, fatal injuries to its drivers – the list of dramas that Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has had to deal with the team’s time in Formula 1 extends far beyond even those examples.
But at the helm of a team preparing for a momentary season with Russian engine Nikita Mazepin and money from his native country, Steiner had to respond to another crisis when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, triggering far-reaching foreign sanctions. Haas temporarily severed ties with Mazepin and named Uralkali a sponsor.
“It never happened!” Steiner said, what February?!Yes, it’s just there (problems to deal with), but while it wasn’t something I wanted to deal with, we knew what to do. So, it’s a question about how to run it without hurting anyone and doing as little damage as possible.
“It may have only hurt because all the other sponsors would not have been satisfied. Many other people wouldn’t have been satisfied if we hadn’t done what we did. So, it’s not a simple resolution, but it’s a transparent resolution (about) what needed to be done, because even if the other people involved didn’t do anything wrong, it’s the deal with that.
“Yeah, it was a distraction, but we’re pretty used to it, so in the end it’s like, ‘Okay, let’s take care of that too!'”Honestly, that’s the way it is. It can’t be avoided, there is no way out. There is a challenge and we will try to solve it in the most productive way imaginable for all concerned at that time and end it, rather than lengthen it.
Maybe it’s old news, but it’s important to think about the starting point of the 2022 season for Haas, as it turns out to be a long time ago.
And when Steiner took on such challenges, it was after an incredibly complicated 2021 for the team. Facing off against two rookies, adding mazepin’s questionable hiring and cash from his Russian backers to protect the team’s future, Haas canceled last season to focus on the new regulations.
Steiner argued that Haas could return to its previous point, which finished fifth in the constructors’ championship in 2018, even though the next three years ended in ninth, ninth and tenth place, out of 10.
With 34 problems in the first thirteen races this year and 7th in the championship, Steiner is right, but his overwhelming reaction is more of a relief than a justification.
“You know, in the moment, you don’t realize it,” he says. it will be when we look back and think ‘Wow, how do we take care of everything?’But not everything fell into place at once, it was step by step and we moved forward.
“Obviously I’m glad it’s so good, because the team would say ‘Keep your head up, keep going,’ and then when you deliver, it’s like ‘ Wow, at least I didn’t tell them!’It’s more for me, because I don’t like to tell others things that don’t happen.
“I believed in it, but I wasn’t sure it would happen like that and I’ve been fair about it. Then everything went well, so I said to myself “thank God, at least other people know why they paint so much. “hard and they’ve kept their heads up when we had a very bad season in 2021. “
That’s not to say he’s not proud of what Haas has achieved this year, with the season-opening race standing out: “Finishing fifth in Bahrain was a very smart moment. Because it’s like we’re coming back after two years of ****”, you know?”
Steiner had faith, he couldn’t say for sure this year would be brighter for Haas, but not everyone shared his belief. This has led the team to see higher-than-usual staff turnover over the winter, with some now wondering their resolve to leave.
“Some other people are gone; I would say there’s still 20% more than the overall rotation,” Steiner says. “There was more than one reason, but it’s certain that other people didn’t know we would come back. It was at most, other people who hadn’t been there for a long time: most of the other people who had been there for a long time, stayed, because I think they are in the team and like this equipment and the atmosphere; what we do. Most of them.
“We have a smart organization of other people who have been there from day one or the moment. I think it shows that other people believed in it, but I wouldn’t say it was complicated because I’m of the opinion that if someone does it They don’t need to stay, there’s no point in retaining them. You can tell them, you can explain to them what we’re going through, but I wouldn’t be offering them money to stay if someone doesn’t believe in it anymore.
“And I’m not disappointed either, just move, because other people have left and other people are now calling us to ask if they can come back because they learned that the neighbor’s lawn is not greener. “
“So they went to other teams, and then they called back and said, ‘Oh, if there’s a vacancy, would you do it with me?'”Of course! If an opportunity arises, I’m not a guy who needs it. If you left because your idea somewhere was better or you advanced in your career, which we can’t give you, that’s fine with me.
After walking the team’s path through the COVID pandemic and avoiding the potentially damaging situation at the start of the season, Steiner is confident that Haas is in a strong position to move forward.
Lately he is not operating with the budget cap, but most likely in 2023 thanks to higher constructors’ championship bills, and he believes this will allow the team to aim higher than before.
“I think at the end of those regulations, 2024, 2025, I won’t win races, but at least I hope we can aim for podiums,” he said. “That’s the goal. But all the other groups have the same opportunity, they are also on the budget ceiling, we will never have that.
“We still have to do smart work. And that’s the problem, now it’s up to us, as a technical team, to achieve the effects we need to achieve. It’s no longer a monetary problem. “
To be fair, it’s time for Steiner to have fewer issues to deal with, but as 2022 has shown once again, he’s still looking for tactics to deal with them.
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