Gunther Steiner on team principals: “Only Wolff, Horner and Vasseur make decisions. The others have to make phone calls…”. A jab from Gunther Steiner at many of his former colleagues.

Gunther Steiner, life after Haas
“Gunther, your contract is expiring, and I’ve decided not to renew it.” With this blunt statement during a phone call, Gunther Steiner learned at the end of 2023 that his tenure at Haas was over. Obviously, the relationship between the parties has not remained ideal, as the Italian manager hinted in an interview with *The Times*: “I couldn’t care less about Gene Haas. I know how he is; it was a matter of money.”

Since then, Gunther Steiner has reinvented himself as a TV commentator for the Germans at RTL during Grand Prix weekends and has recently published a new book, which he is currently promoting, titled *Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1*.

The work of a team principal
In his conversation with *The Times*, Gunther Steiner was quite direct and blunt about the role of a team principal, drawing from his personal experience: “When you’re in F1, you know how it works. People get eaten up. In some teams, it’s like a revolving door—you put your heart and soul into it for a year or two, and you still get kicked out.” – he explained.

His reflection on his former counterparts is particularly interesting: “What used to be the role of the sporting director or team manager is now the role of the team principal. But only a few are left: to be honest, only Toto Wolff, Christian Horner, and Fred Vasseur can make decisions. All the others, for example, in a meeting of the F1 Commission, have to call someone to ask what to do.”

Gunther Steiner then concluded: “They can talk about how many tires to use over the weekend, but they have no authority over the commercial side, because they have someone above them. It’s not good for F1; the media know they’re talking to people who are just messengers.”