Haas Motorsports has fired its former Formula 1 group principal Guenther Steiner. While this is a really smart determination for Haas as a racing group trying to achieve F1 (and after the group completed in final place within the 2023 Constructor’s Cup, it’s in all probability coming just a little late), it’s a devastating blow to followers of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
While arguably one among least profitable group principals in current reminiscence, Steiner was a godsend for the truth present producers at Box to Box. He’s an absolute character, a real weirdo in methods solely European sports activities can produce. He’s brash, loud, opinionated, full of strange sayings and weird jokes, and he seemingly acquired alongside nice with everybody. (Except, sometimes, his drivers.)
In different phrases, the whole lot about him is pitch-perfect for a actuality collection, 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 most of Drive to Survive’s 5 seasons, Steiner has basically remained the present’s fundamental character. Sure, the present has far more entry to the remainder of the groups now than it did earlier than, with even the highest groups lining up to get their shot on digicam, 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 high of that, his unimaginable Northern Italian dad power gives a pleasant respite from the young-buck confidence of all the drivers.
The solely downside with all of this 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 have been numbered. Steiner can be changed by Ayao Komatsu, who has been Haas’ trackside engineer since 2016, and has additionally appeared usually on Drive to Survive.
The excellent news for Drive to Survive followers is that though Guenther is one among a form, there’s by no means a scarcity of characters concerned in Formula 1. We’ll simply have to wait for 2 seasons from now to discover out who, because the upcoming season — doubtless arriving someday in February or March — will comply with his last 12 months as Haas’s group principal.
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