Guenther Steiner has never been the type to sit quietly and collect a salary. So when he says he would return to Formula 1, but only for a project that genuinely excites him, you had better believe he means it. And a few team principals should probably be reading this very carefully.
The Condition Is Simple, the Bar Is High
Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast alongside former F1 driver David Coulthard, the 61-year-old was characteristically blunt about what it would take to lure him back to the paddock.
“I would come back if there is a project I like. Just to go back and do a job? No. It needs to be something that really challenges me.” – Guenther Steiner
He was quick to clarify what “project” actually means to him. Not a job title. Not a comfortable seat at a mid-table team. Something he can shape from the ground up, with real commitment behind it. Sound familiar? It should. That is almost word for word how Steiner would have described founding Haas back in 2014.
The Track Record Speaks for Itself
When Haas entered Formula 1 in 2016, everyone said it could not be done. The team scored 29 points in their debut season, finishing ahead of Renault and Sauber. By 2018, they were fifth in the constructors’ championship with 93 points. Steiner built a competitive F1 team from scratch. That is not a trivial achievement, and it is exactly the kind of experience that teams like Audi and Cadillac are currently paying enormous sums to import from elsewhere, with mixed results.
The Haas story did eventually sour, of course. Budget cuts after 2019 saw the team slide from 93 points all the way to last in 2023, at which point Gene Haas declined to renew his contract. Ayao Komatsu inherited a team with structural problems that are still very much present in 2026.
Life After the Pitwall
Since January 2024, Steiner has kept himself busy. He became a television analyst, a role he openly admits surprised him.
“When I left Haas, I went into TV. I didn’t know that industry even existed. I wanted to be as good as David. I haven’t achieved it yet. So I think it was easier to start an F1 team than to get as good as David on TV.” – Guenther Steiner
He also became CEO of the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP team from the start of 2026, proving his appetite for building and leading racing organisations has not dimmed. Racin is racing, whether it is four wheels or two.
Who Should Be Making the Call?
The timing of this admission is worth noting. Cadillac recently sacked their team principal mid-season, and Audi continue to search for a coherent identity in their debut year. Both share something with Haas circa 2016: they need someone who has already solved the problem of building a competitive team from nothing, under pressure, with limited resources.
Steiner has done exactly that. His current TV role gives him an outsider’s analytical view of where teams are going wrong, which, frankly, most sitting team principals would envy. Whether anyone is bold enough to offer him the kind of project he is actually talking about is another matter entirely. The door is open. The question is who has the nerve to walk through it.
