Gene Haas gives very blunt response to post-Guenther Steiner era question

Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner during Formula 1 pre-season testing in 2022.

After several challenging years, the Haas Formula 1 team seems to have finally found its stride — though it came at the cost of removing Guenther Steiner from the head of the team.

Gene Haas, though, hasn’t regretted the move. In fact, he feels the Haas Formula 1 team is as strong as it can be, and he’s not afraid to say it.

Gene Haas: Being ‘dead last’ was motivation to change

Speaking to Chris Medland of Speed City Broadcasting, Gene Haas didn’t mince words when he was asked about the changes the team made at the start of the season — specifically, laying off Guenther Steiner and replacing him with Ayao Komatsu.

“We did a lot of changes, and the changes are working, so that’s good. That’s all good,” the tight-lipped Haas said.

“We had four years of almost being dead last, so that was enough to motivate me.”

While Gene Haas is perhaps overstating it a bit by suggesting that his team was “dead last” every year, he does have reason to be concerned. After 2018, when the team scored a stunning fifth place in the World Constructors’ Championship in just its third year of the sport, it has been downhill ever since.

Haas did finish dead last in both 2021 and 2023. They were ninth — second to last — in 2019 and 2020. A best WCC finish of eighth in 2022 wasn’t much to brag about, either.

This year, with half a season of races still remaining, things are looking up. Haas is currently seventh in the World Constructors’ Championship, and it’s only a few points between VCARB in sixth.

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Of course, a big part of Haas’ success has come at the hands of Nico Hulkenberg — the driver who will be leaving the team at the end of the year.

“He gets every bit out of the car,” Haas told Speed City Broadcasting. “We know that that’s about as fast as the car can go when he drives it.”

Regarding Hulkenberg’s departure, though, Haas didn’t seem too concerned: “You know, things change, you just get used to it in racing.”

So, what’s next for the Haas outfit? Its CEO has a plan.

“We got to this step in the mountain; we need to stay here for a while and not go back down the mountain,” Haas said.

“We have good pace; our car’s not as fast as we should be, but it’s as fast as we can be right now to be mid-pack. So if we can just stay there, we’ll be in good shape.

“We’ll have some upgrades coming later in the year. The upgrades, I think, have been a lot more successful than previous years. Hopefully, that’ll keep us ahead of everybody else — at least who we’re racing,”

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