Haas Motorsports has fired its former System 1 workforce principal Guenther Steiner. Whereas this is a really wise determination for Haas as a racing group trying to reach F1 (and after the workforce completed in final place within the 2023 Constructor’s Cup, it’s in all probability coming slightly late), it’s a devastating blow to followers of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
Whereas arguably one of least profitable workforce principals in latest reminiscence, Steiner was a godsend for the truth present producers at Field to Field. He’s an absolute character, a real weirdo in methods solely European sports activities can produce. He’s brash, loud, opinionated, full of odd sayings and weird jokes, and he seemingly acquired alongside nice with everybody. (Besides, sometimes, his drivers.)
In different phrases, all the things about him is pitch-perfect for a actuality collection, particularly one making an attempt to get off the bottom. Even higher, he was working for one of the lowest-ranked groups within the sport, so he had nothing to lose by permitting cameras into his paddock and behind the scenes for tons of entry.
For many of Drive to Survive’s 5 seasons, Steiner has primarily remained the present’s predominant character. Positive, the present has far more entry to the remaining of the groups now than it did earlier than, with even the highest groups lining up to get their shot on digicam, however there’s nonetheless no character fairly like Guenther.
Steiner was additionally a incredible entry level into the game. A cautious, eccentric explainer of racing, Steiner has a expertise in his talking-head shorts for serving to viewers study extra about racing with out even realizing it. On high of that, his unimaginable Northern Italian dad power supplies a pleasant respite from the young-buck confidence of all of the drivers.
The one drawback with all of this is that he wasn’t serving to Haas rating any factors. He grew to become a actuality star, however that wasn’t translating to outcomes on the monitor, which meant his days with Haas have been numbered. Steiner will probably be changed by Ayao Komatsu, who has been Haas’ trackside engineer since 2016, and has additionally appeared usually on Drive to Survive.
The excellent news for Drive to Survive followers is that although Guenther is one of a sort, there’s by no means a scarcity of characters concerned in System 1. We’ll simply have to wait for 2 seasons from now to discover out who, because the upcoming season — possible arriving someday in February or March — will comply with his last yr as Haas’s workforce principal.
