Guenther Steiner | |
|---|---|
 Steiner at the2022 Austrian Grand Prix | |
| Born | (1965-04-07)7 April 1965 (age 60) Merano, South Tyrol, Italy |
| Citizenship | Italy United States |
| Spouse | Gertraud Steiner |
| Children | 1 |
Guenther Steiner (born 7 April 1965,[1]German:Günther[2][3]) is an Italian and Americanmotorsport engineer and former team manager. Steiner was the Team Principal ofHaasFormula One Team from 2016 to 2023, the managing director ofJaguar Racing from 2001 to 2003, and technical operations director of its subsequent incarnation,Red Bull Racing. He is currently a commentator and analyst for Formula One broadcasts.
Born inMerano,South Tyrol,[1] the son of a butcher,[4] Steiner studied engineering; however, without completing his degree, he then moved toBelgium,[5] where he began his career as a mechanic in theWorld Rally Championship forMazda Rally Team Europe from 1986 to 1988.
From January 1989 – 1990, Steiner worked as the assistant team manager forTop Run Srl. He acted as head of reconnaissance, and later as a technical manager, atJolly Club from 1991 to 1996.
In 1997, Steiner managedProdrive's Allstar Rally team, winning theEuropean Rally Championship withKrzysztof Hołowczyc, and in 1998M-Sport recruited him as project manager. In 2000, he was promoted to director of engineering, where he worked under theFord World Rally Team alongside driversColin McRae andCarlos Sainz; ultimately, securing consecutive runner-up finishes in the2000 and2001 seasons.[1]
Steiner switched toFormula One in 2001 whenFord's official Formula One full-works team,Jaguar Racing, appointed him as their new team principal.Niki Lauda headhunted Steiner for the job of managing director.[1][5] According to Steiner, "[Lauda] asked, 'are there any talented people at Ford?' And the reply was 'there's Günther.' The guy lied!"[5] Assuming the role on 3 December, Steiner was responsible for the engineering side of the team atMilton Keynes, while the director of strategyJohn Allison handled administrative tasks.[6]
Steiner reorganised the team and reduced costs during his tenure.[1][7] However, Jaguar underperformed in the2002 season,[8] with lead driverEddie Irvine claiming only eight championship points while teammatePedro de la Rosa failed to score,[9] and parent company Ford dismissed Lauda on 26 November before making 70 team members redundant.[8][10]
On 5 December, Jaguar announced Steiner had been replaced by project manager David Pitchforth as part of the restructuring. Spokesman Nav Sidhu said, "he has relinquished his responsibilities as MD but has done nothing wrong. This organisation is in significantly better shape now than when he joined. Günther has clearly laid down the engineering baseline that David will now aim to take on to the next level."[7]
Although Jaguar's new management offered Steiner another role in the team, he ultimately declined,[5][7] and spent the2003 season ongarden leave before replacingWiet Huidekoper as technical director atOpel Performance Center in November of that year.[1][11]
AfterRed Bull purchased Jaguar Racing in November 2004,[12] Steiner was invited to joinRed Bull Racing.[1]Opel's plans to withdraw from theDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the end of 2005 motivated his return to the Milton Keynes team.[13][14][15] His appointment as technical operations director was confirmed on 13 January 2005.[1][16]
Steiner and team principalChristian Horner jointly led the outfit to improved results in the2005 season,[17] but when Red Bull poached championship-winning technical directorAdrian Newey fromMcLaren, team ownerDietrich Mateschitz approached Steiner to help establish aNASCAR team in theUnited States.[5][18] Feeling the F1 team had become overcrowded, Steiner consulted his wife and agreed to move toMooresville,North Carolina,[5] where he served asTeam Red Bull's technical director from 1 April 2006 to April 2008.[1][18]
Steiner remained in Mooresville after leaving Red Bull, where he founded the manufacturing company Fibreworks Composites in January 2009.[1]
Steiner has stated that the original vision for establishing the Haas F1 Team began with a business plan he wrote at his kitchen table during thefinancial crisis of the late 2000s, when he saw an opportunity for a new entry into Formula 1 and sought to attract a financial backer willing to fund the project.[19]
While theUS F1 Team was in development, Steiner met Joe Custer andGene Haas ofStewart–Haas Racing, who had declined to invest in the project, at a steakhouse. He proposed they themselves enter F1 by ordering a customer car from an established constructor, but delays in securing approval prompted them to apply for entry as aprivateer team.[20][21] He has credited support from figures includingNiki Lauda,Stefano Domenicali,Jean Todt, andCharlie Whiting as crucial to convincing then-Formula 1 leadership, including Bernie Ecclestone, to approve the team’s entry into the sport.[19]
Steiner, described as "the prime 'doer'" by motorsport publicationAutosport, recruited the core staff, interviewed every team member,[4] and developed partnerships with outsourcersDallara andFerrari.[22][23] On 14 April 2014, he was officially announced team principal of the fledglingHaas F1 Team.[23]
With their entry in the2016 season, Haas became the first American constructor to compete in F1 in 30 years.[24] The team took eight points at the2016 Australian Grand Prix with a 6th-place finish by driverRomain Grosjean, becoming the first American entry, and the first constructor overall sinceToyota Racing in2002, to score in their debut race.[25] Haas completed the season with an 8th-place finish in the 2016 constructor standings and 29 points, all scored by Grosjean.[26]
At Haas, Steiner became notable for his forthright personality, particularly for his appearances on theNetflix seriesFormula 1: Drive to Survive which featured him frequently swearing. In 2023 he released a book,Surviving to Drive: A year inside Formula 1, about his experiences.[27] In January 2024, it was announced that Haas had chosen not to renew Steiner's contract for the 2024 season. He was replaced byAyao Komatsu, the team's former trackside engineering director.[28]
In May 2024, it was reported that Steiner had sued Haas for non-payment of commissions that he was owed over several years and for continuing to sell merchandise featuring his name and image, as well as using him on Haas' official website without his authorisation.[29] A few days later, it was reported thatHaas Automation, the parent company of Haas F1 Team, is suing Steiner and his publisherTen Speed Press for trademark infringements in hisSurviving to Drive autobiography.[30] In September, Haas Automation's lawsuit was dismissed by the court.[31]
In October 2024 Steiner released his second book,Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1, detailing his experiences leading Haas F1 team.[32]
As part of the promotional activities for the release of his second book, Steiner embarked on a tour of multiple venues in the United Kingdom with a live show, to be held between November 2024 and June 2025.[33]
In late February 2024, Steiner signed a contract withRTL, a German television channel who broadcast F1 in Germany, as a specialist commentator. He was scheduled to attend the 2024Bahrain Grand Prix paddock and at least seven Grands Prix for the 2024 season.[34][35][36] Steiner began his role as the race ambassador for theMiami Grand Prix in April of 2024.[citation needed]
In September 2025, Steiner was named head of the consortium that acquired the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP motorcycle racing team.[37]
Steiner holds Italian and American passports,[5] and lives inMooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Gertraud, and daughter.[1] Being a native ofSouth Tyrol, he speaks German and Italian, along with English.
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