Guenther Steiner has earned the reputation of being a loudmouth livewire with a short fuse. That is perhaps because he is the team boss who has been through the tensest situations with arguably nothing to show in positive results. But then what would Guenther really be if not for the surrounding chaos? The Haas boss went through the most turbulent times last year when Russia invaded Ukraine. And because one of his major sponsors was a Russian fertilizer brand, and he had the brand owner’s son driving for him, the American team’s boss found himself in murky waters. In his book Survive to Drive, Steiner recalled how his day turned out to be when the news of the Russian invasion broke.

Guenther is perhaps the most polarizing figure in F1, with people either loving him for his flamboyant personality or downright hating him for the same. The Mazepin father-son duo is definitely a part of the latter camp. The communication between the two parties broke down to such an extent that Haas did not even personally inform Nikita of his termination. Mazepin Jr lashed out at the team for getting to know about it through the media. But that was 9 days after the invasion began. What was Guenther’s day like when he woke up and learned of the news?

“My God. What a day!” he recalled in his book Survive to Drive. “I woke up to the news that Russia invaded Ukraine.” [Translated using Google]

He recalled bursting into a laugh when he met the first Haas engineer when he got to the track that day. “Guenther, only Haas can have a Russian pilot and a Russian sponsor at the start of a Russian war that has made everyone in the world hate Russia! I almost got my pants wet, but he was right. I think we have some kind of curse on us.”

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Guenther then went on to reflect on the difficult conversation he had with Nikita. Surely one of the most difficult ones he’s had in his life.

How the conversation between Guenther Steiner and Nikita Mazepin turned out to be

As we know by now, things between the Mazepins and Haas did not end amicably. Nikita sued the team for alleged unpaid wages following his termination. But before that, according to Steiner, they had a private conversation that Nikita denies having.

“Nikita said he’s not interested in politics and just wants to drive. I understand and appreciate what you’re saying, but it’s a bit bigger than that. It’s very difficult for everyone,” Guenther recalled in the book.

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He remembers the scrapping of the Uralkali logo to be a well-thought-out one. That’s because Steiner feels the media would have “crucified” his team had they continued sporting it. The only silver lining to this story is that Haas has moved on from it and so has Nikita who has gone on to win several races and events. However, he still remains hopeful of one day making a return in F1.