Haas Motorsports has fired its former Formulation 1 crew principal Guenther Steiner. Whereas this can be a very smart determination for Haas as a racing group trying to reach F1 (and after the crew completed in final place within the 2023 Constructor’s Cup, it’s in all probability coming a bit late), it’s a devastating blow to followers of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
Whereas arguably one among least profitable crew principals in latest reminiscence, Steiner was a godsend for the truth 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 obtained alongside nice with everybody. (Besides, 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 many of Drive to Survive’s 5 seasons, Steiner has basically remained the present’s primary character. Positive, 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 digicam, however there’s nonetheless no character fairly like Guenther.
Steiner was additionally a unbelievable 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 supplies a pleasant respite from the young-buck confidence of all the drivers.
The one downside 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 monitor, which meant his days with Haas had been numbered. Steiner might 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 despite the fact that Guenther is one among 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 — possible arriving someday in February or March — will observe his closing yr as Haas’s crew principal.