One of the biggest and quite frankly surprising change we will witness in the 2024 season is a new face leading the Haas Formula 1 team. Guenther Steiner, who had literally become the face of the American team since its inception in 2016, will make way for the director of engineering, Ayao Komatsu, to step in his role. While the news may have come as a shock to many, the insiders would have seen this move coming from a mile away with everything that’s been going on behind the scenes at Haas. Guenther Steiner has now opened up about his plans beyond Formula 1.

Gene Haas may have been the team owner, but Haas was the brainchild of Steiner. It was he who approached Gene Haas with the idea to form Formula 1’s very first American team. Despite being the owner, Gene Haas was always more like an investor for the team with Guenther taking on all the major responsibilities to keep the team alive in the cutthroat world of Formula.

Guenther Steiner is not planning an immediate comeback in Formula 1

At the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Steiner revealed his plans to take a break from F1 for several months while speaking with Autosport International. He intends to use this time to reconnect with his family. Steiner expressed the need to take a step back after facing what he described as a “very hard” last few years leading the team. He said that he doesn’t want to be in Formula 1 just for the sake of having a job in the sport.

“Right now, I want to rest a little. It has been ten very hard years and I have a lot of things to do, there is a lot to sort out at home. I want to spend a good time with my family, my daughter is 14 years old and she asks me for a lot of things. Trying to manage that seems even more difficult than leading a Formula 1 team, so I will be at it for several months,“ soymotor.com quoted Steiner.

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However, the 58-year-old Italian also expressed his desire to attend a few races in 2024. So we will see him back in the F1 paddock, just not in the way we’re used to seeing him. He will be there as a fan of the sport. “I didn’t have the opportunity to thank some people when I left Haas and I would like to do that now. I also want to do The same with all the fans who supported us when I was there,” he added.

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Guenther has been monumental in keeping Haas afloat during difficult times like the COVID pandemic. However, he and Gene have not been on the same page lately regarding the future of the team.

Steiner was hurt to leave the team without saying a last goodbye

The tension between Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner had been building up in the last couple of years. And it all came down to the performance of the team and their vision for the future. While the Italian thought the team needed steady investments in the coming years for growth, Gene Haas believes that the team has underachieved with the current level of resources and their technical partnership with Ferrari.

Steiner revealed that he got the news right before his contract was due to expire at the end of 2023. “Gene called me and told me he had no intention of renewing my contract which was ending right at the end of 31 and that’s fine. Something like that is always a little surprising. But in the end, he is the owner of the team and can do what he wants. It is his decision,” said Steiner.

However, he expressed his disappointment for not being able to say goodbye to his staff. “It hurt me not to say goodbye… It was a small team that, many times, ran on adrenaline. They did a good job and I want to thank them. thank you. It doesn’t make you happy not to do it,” he concluded.

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Do you think other teams will approach Guenther Steiner to make use of his wealth of experience in Formula 1? Share your insights down below in the comments.