Steiner: If we earn points, I consider it a success

The Monaco Grand Prix will be the 150th race in Haas F1 history and US team principal Gunther Steiner shared his thoughts on the event on the F1 Nation podcast.

Günther Steiner: “I’m not a big statistician and I live from race to race, so somehow I didn’t even think about it, but in fact we have something to be proud of. Although if you think about it, 150 Grand Prix shows that Haas F1 is the youngest Formula 1 team.

I must admit that time flies very quickly, and in the history of our team there have been both successes and failures, but such is life. The main thing is that nothing is over yet and that we continue.

When Gene Haas and I started this project, we didn’t think that far. When you start a business you have to have a five-year plan and in motor racing you also have to plan five years ahead, but Gene preferred to be realistic and said, “I don’t think we’re going to do something like that “as we plan.”

Look at Formula 1 today: how could we have foreseen five years ago that it would become so popular, that there would be so much fuss around the championship? I can honestly say no.

When we started, we decided: let’s try to at least achieve something. I don’t want to speak for Gene, of course, but I think he was thinking something like, “I have a successful team in NASCAR, I like racing, so let’s try that too.”

I don’t think anyone could have predicted everything that has happened to Formula 1 in the last three years. And it’s not just about the Drive to Survive documentary series, although it contributed to that in many ways. In my opinion a lot of things just came together well and this fueled the general interest in our championship.

I think the main changes have to do with the fact that people at Liberty Media were able to watch Formula 1 from the outside, and it was a fresh look. They started with small changes, but taken together this has led to an increase in the popularity of our sport.”

Of course, Steiner also spoke about the expectations surrounding the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix: “As we know, a lot will depend on the results of Saturday’s qualifying this weekend. So I hope we will work effectively in practice, set up the car correctly and avoid problems in qualifying.

Monaco is always a big traffic problem, but when a driver is trying to complete the lap as fast as possible, he can’t think about other cars on the track. If Kevin Magnussen and Niko Hulkenberg manage to find the right approach to the track during training, lay out all the necessary guidelines, then we can perform quite well this weekend.

It looks like the weather might be raining, but the forecast changes every day, so let’s see what we can achieve. In previous years in Monaco we had a lot of bad luck, for example the introduction of the safety car prevented us from implementing tactics that promised to be quite effective. But it happened that our riders had an accident. I don’t even know why we were so unlucky, although it cannot be said that our chances of success were so small. But this is Monte Carlo and it’s important to be in the right place at the right time.

I’m glad Kevin finally felt quite comfortable behind the wheel of the VF-23, although he had some problems at the start of the season due to a sub-optimal balance. He never managed to achieve the necessary “feel of the machine”. But after Miami, he told me that now everything is fine, he is very pleased and already understands with what settings to start the weekend and then gradually increase the speed.

I hope he soon gains confidence in the car, because success on city roads depends on it. If we talk about Niko, he can fly very well. I expected it to be like this, but I thought he would need time, so I was even surprised when he went really fast straight away. I don’t know if he has already reached his peak or can add more, but if this happens, then it is clear that I will only be happy.

Niko does a good job and thanks to him the atmosphere in the team has become even better, everyone wants to work with him. He asks a lot of the team, but he always does very well. He will never demand anything without reason and can always explain what this or those of his wishes are related to.

I wouldn’t say that Kevin and Niko are the best racing duo to have driven for Haas, but I am very happy with them. Everyone remembers that Roman Grosjean drove great on a good day, but his bad day could turn into a nightmare. I think Niko works more consistently, and in terms of talent he and Roman are quite comparable. In general, our riders are very stable at this stage of the season. And if we earn points in Monaco I will consider it a success because this year it is very difficult to break into the top ten.”

Continuing on the theme of success, we might add that Günther Steiner has already achieved it himself: his book of memoirs is selling very well and even managed to reach number one in The Sunday Times bestseller ranking. Admittedly, according to the head of Haas F1, he has still not received any compensation from the publisher.