Exclusive
Steiner did not listen to his wife: 'I realised I have many friends in F1'
- Ludo van Denderen
Guenther Steiner stopped being a team boss in Formula 1 several months ago now. The former driving force of Haas F1 admittedly does not see himself returning to a similar position any time soon. Yet at many Grand Prix, Steiner is present in the paddock, usually in the role of an analyst for various media outlets. Therefore, Steiner is far from detached from the sport. During an exclusive interview with GPblog, Steiner admits that his wife had hoped for something else.
Miss being a team boss? Steiner certainly doesn't have to think long about the answer to that question: "No, not really. There is moments where you may miss it, like at the start of a race, but it goes away. It's not something I dwell on because if I'm around, I'm still around. I'm with the same people. I speak with the same people in a different position. But it's one of the things, when you start qualifying, you miss a little bit of adrenaline, but then you get in and just start to analyse what is happening and you forget about it. So it's not something which I, when I get home and say, 'oh, I didn't go to the race', no, I'm fine."
Steiner feels appreciation in the paddock
Working in Formula 1 is very taxing, both physically and on your personal life. Right after his departure from the sport as team boss, Steiner could have distanced himself for a while. His wife, for instance, would have been very happy if Steiner had been home a bit more often. "Yeah, that was the plan. Like normal in my life, the plans don't work out. I knew this was coming and I was going to take it easy for a year."
"And then, the day it was announced, people asked me, would you do this? And as I said before, I know a lot of people in Formula One. I realised that actually I've got quite a lot of friends in Formula One, which sounds strange. I didn't expect to say that ever because everybody seems to be happy to talk with me, to have a conversation and appreciate what I have to say. So, I still enjoy it and I think this year I do about half the races, which in the end, it's very good."
Don't get him wrong: Steiner does go to the tracks for a reason. "But I'm not going to the races just to hang around and try to find someone to talk with. I've got a job to do. I'm doing TV, I'm doing sponsors, I'm doing a lot of things because just to go there, to hang around, I wouldn't do. I would stay at home. That's not me. But it's good to be around, and it keeps you involved. And it's what you have done almost all your life. But I don't get withdrawal symptoms at the moment," Steiner laughs.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton
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