The Haas team shocked F1 fans around the world by announcing the sacking of Guenther Steiner on January 10th. Owner Gene Haas replaced Ayao Komatsu as owner. Bring team leadership. Many people still doubt why Haas sacked Steiner, but David Croft revealed a possible reason on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
Croft talked about how Steiner was better than Gene Haas. But the F1 expert said there may be no reason to sack anyone. Croft said the poor performance was the reason Gene made the decision to part ways with Steiner.
Croft said: “His performance on the track last year is also part of the picture. Nico Hulkenberg, for example, did a great job on Saturday to finish in the top ten.
ย ย And so Croft focused on Sunday’s poor performance . So I think Guenther paid the price,” concluded the British trainer.
ย ย Croft said Haas was well done on Saturday but did not give a good result on Sunday. Croft’s calculations were correct, as Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen had excellent performances in qualifying but were beaten on Sunday.
ย ย The Haas suffered from these difficulties due to excessive tire wear on the car. For example, Magnussen qualified P4 in Miami but finished P10 in the race. Also, Hulkenberg finished seventh in Spain, but finished the race in 15th place. It was a similar situation in Canada when
Hulkenberg entered P5 but also finished P15. As such, Haas did not capitalize on Saturday’s game and failed to turn Sunday’s performance into an advantage on several occasions.
ย ย Guenther Steiner’s fame went beyond the sport and the Haas team. On the
Sky Sports F1 podcast, David Croft also spoke about Guenther Steiner’s popularity, which is higher than that of the Haas team. The 58-year-old was a hit with the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.ย the audience saw Steiner as a celebrity alongside Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
ย ย That’s something Croft said as he focused on Steiner’s huge popularity and helping Haas combine Mercedes and Red Bull..