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Guenther Steiner breaks SILENCE on Haas exit

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aditya Pandya | Last updated 1/13/24

Guenther Steiner has been ousted from the Haas F1 team. This announcement came as a shocker for the entire grid. The American team’s poor performance in recent seasons was cited as the reason for the departure of the Italian-American boss. Now, Steiner has finally broken his silence over the status quo.

Guenther Steiner confirmed that he was not allowed to bid a proper farewell to the crew before being ousted from the team. The 58-year-old explained that the team’s owner Gene Haas called him and revealed the situation. The Italian-American was informed that wouldn’t be continuing as the Team Principal for the subsequent season. There wasn’t much back and forth between the two figures. The Italian-American did not delve further into the details of the phone call.

It was a phone call, he [Gene] called me and said that he does not want to extend the contract which was up at the end of the season and that was it. Steiner said, as reported by Racingnews365

This news came as a shock for the entire F1 grid as it was too soon to decide the exit for the principal. Following the phone call, Steiner was asked about his thoughts and feelings. To this, the 58-year-old did not have a definitive answer as it was on short notice. However, Gene Haas is the team owner and it was the 71-year-old’s call to change the team leadership.

I don't know if it was a surprise, it's always a surprise but then in the end he owns the team, he can do what he wants and it's his decision.

Gunther Steiner laid out his future plans after exiting Haas F1 team

Guenther Steiner explained that currently he just wanted to take things slow. Additionally, the 58-year-old also reminisced about the ten years of working in the sport and how they were tough for him. The Former team principal also needed to spend time with his family in the coming months. Steiner mentioned how he has to ‘clean up’ at his home.

At the moment, I just want to chill out a little bit, It was 10 tough years, and I've got plenty of stuff to do - there is plenty to clean up at home.

In addition to leading the Haas F1 team, Steiner is also a dad to a sweet little 14-year-old daughter. Hence, the 58-year-old asserted that he needed to spend some family time and joked about how his daughter was quite demanding for her age. Managing all these elements is more difficult than managing a single team on the F1 grid according to Guenther.

Hence an exit from Formula 1 after ten years of service seems like a great chunk of a lifetime spent in the sport. So as Haas prepares for the following season under Ayao Komatsu, Steiner takes a break from the hectic life of the high-adrenaline sport.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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