“Can I start with just something from my side?” Steiner began as he settled into a conversation with Sky Sports F1’s David Croft. “I didn’t have the chance to say thank you to a few people when I left Haas F1. I would just like to thank all the team members which I couldn’t give a proper goodbye [to] when I left.
“It stung [not being able to say goodbye to the team], but they all know me and that I still appreciate what they did. It would be nice to say, ‘Hey guys, thanks for all that you did’, because the team started very small, running on adrenaline a lot of times, and they did a good job. Obviously it doesn’t make you happy not saying thank you, but I think I did it now.”
Steiner then got down to the details of his departure and confirmed that team owner Gene Haas reached out between Christmas and New Year with the bombshell decision.
“It was a phone call,” Steiner stated. “Gene called me and said that he doesn’t want to extend the contract which was up at the end of the season, and that was it. I don’t know [if it was a surprise]. It’s always a little bit of a surprise, but then in the end, he owns the team, he can do what he wants and it’s his decision.
“I think [whether a change was needed] can be answered only in time. I cannot answer that one because otherwise I could say what is happening in the future. Gene thought that is the way he wants to take the team forward and, as I said, it’s his decision, not my one. He owns the place, so if you own something you’ve got the right to do what you want.”
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Formula1.com, Gene Haas made clear that the call to replace Steiner “came down to performance”, with the team slipping to the bottom of the constructors’ standings in 2023 – scoring just 12 points from 22 races – and not placing higher than eighth over the last five seasons. Haas even used the word “embarrassed” given his outfit’s relationship with Ferrari, which has been in place since the very start of their F1 journey and sees them take a host of components – including power units – from the famous Italian manufacturer.
If you look at all the other teams... they are not gearing up now, they started to gear up [already], some two years ago, some three years ago, some last year, so everybody is getting stronger, investing a lot in the future. F1, I think, is on a very good path where it is going at the moment, and that’s what is needed to do to stay competitive.
“I don’t know Gene Haas’s plans for the future. He didn’t share them with me – and he doesn’t have to, by the way! I want to make that one clear as well; I’m actually not really interested in that anymore. The model we started in the beginning, I think it was a very good model, but maybe it’s not time relevant anymore. But who am I to say that?”