Günther Steiner reveals what was “the greatest challenge in the history of Haas”

Günther Steiner says trying to keep Haas F1 through the pandemic was a more difficult task than building the team first.

Haas, the newest designer in the field, has had tough times in recent years due to the competition, having slipped from solid midfield status to the back of the field.

They can’t go back much further, but hope to turn their fortunes around next year as they have put all of their development focus on the all-new cars required for 2022 rather than this season’s challenger.

However, according to Steiner, the team boss at Haas, it is a miracle that the American team is still competing, given the impact of the pandemic and the impact on Formula 1 with the forced shutdown and a delayed start of the 2020 campaign, which included 17 races instead of the planned 23.

“It hit the wrong time for us,” Steiner told Insider.com. “Our car was not good, then COVID arrived and the trade agreement that we had expired. It was a challenge to keep the team going and that is the biggest challenge so far.

“The challenge last year, in my opinion, was bigger than starting the team because there is something, you want to keep it going, but you have to do a case for the owner to keep it going.

“That was the greatest challenge in Haas history.”

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Steiner also opened his role on race day after Red Bull’s Christian Horner recently compared his own position on the pit wall with that of his Mercedes colleague Toto Wolff. Horner said Wolff stays in the garage and sits “next to the press man”.

At Haas, Steiner delegates a large part of the strategy planning for race day to the team’s chief race engineer, Ayao Komatsu, in order to gain a “bigger picture” for himself.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m practical, but I’m not tangible either,” said the Italian. “I have a very good relationship with Ayao. We work well together. I do not interfere.

“They come into their racing mode while I can see the big picture. I understand the race pretty well and enjoy doing it, but I know someone has to make the decisions and it shouldn’t be me.

“He sometimes asks my opinion, sometimes I tell him things I see on the racetrack and make sure he sees them, but I don’t call.

“I just try to support the best I can and when I am needed, I am there to help. Sometimes I’m needed because they trust me pretty well.

“I’m only there to support them. That’s my role, but I’m pretty involved mentally. I don’t just watch the race as a spectator. “