Haas Motorsports has fired its former Formulation 1 workforce principal Guenther Steiner. Whereas this can be a very wise choice for Haas as a racing group trying to achieve F1 (and after the workforce completed in final place within the 2023 Constructor’s Cup, it’s most likely coming a bit late), it’s a devastating blow to followers of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
Whereas arguably one in every of least profitable workforce principals in current reminiscence, Steiner was a godsend for the fact present producers at Field to Field. He’s an absolute character, a real weirdo in methods solely European sports activities can produce. He’s brash, loud, opinionated, full of wierd sayings and weird jokes, and he seemingly bought alongside nice with everybody. (Besides, sometimes, his drivers.)
In different phrases, every part about him is pitch-perfect for a actuality sequence, particularly one making an attempt to get off the bottom. Even higher, he was working for one of many lowest-ranked groups within the sport, so he had nothing to lose by permitting cameras into his paddock and behind the scenes for tons of entry.
For many of Drive to Survive’s 5 seasons, Steiner has primarily remained the present’s essential character. Certain, the present has far more entry to the remainder of the groups now than it did earlier than, with even the highest groups lining as much as get their shot on digital camera, however there’s nonetheless no character fairly like Guenther.
Steiner was additionally a incredible entry level into the game. A cautious, eccentric explainer of racing, Steiner has a expertise in his talking-head shorts for serving to viewers study extra about racing with out even realizing it. On prime of that, his unbelievable Northern Italian dad vitality gives a pleasant respite from the young-buck confidence of the entire drivers.
The one drawback with all of that is that he wasn’t serving to Haas rating any factors. He grew to become a actuality star, however that wasn’t translating to outcomes on the observe, which meant his days with Haas had been numbered. Steiner will likely be changed by Ayao Komatsu, who has been Haas’ trackside engineer since 2016, and has additionally appeared typically on Drive to Survive.
The excellent news for Drive to Survive followers is that regardless that Guenther is one in every of a sort, there’s by no means a scarcity of characters concerned in Formulation 1. We’ll simply have to attend for 2 seasons from now to seek out out who, because the upcoming season — doubtless arriving someday in February or March — will comply with his last 12 months as Haas’s workforce principal.
