By Joe Murphy
In an unforeseen twist of fate, it has been revealed that Guenther Steiner has been in talks over a remarkable return to Formula 1, but this time in a different capacity. The former Haas Team Principal now sees himself going one better, he wants to outright own a constructor.
In a move not many fans expected, Steiner was replaced as Haas team boss at the start of this year, with Ayao Komatsu coming in to replace him. Under his stewardship so far, Haas have actually exceeded expectations and even have a couple of championship points to their name, something a few other teams cannot yet say.
Steiner has already outlined his desire to challenge at the front of F1 if he was to return and that, by insinuation, suggests he wants to be invoked with a team other than his former American employers. He has hinted that he has the money to invest in such an adventure, although it is more likely he would own part of an already existing team, rather than being sole owner. He wants to now utilise his experience to benefit someone else;
“I’m not going to come back just to run a team if I don’t have that opportunity.”
When considering legitimate contenders for where Steiner could invest, the most obvious would be RB. Red Bull’s little sister would be perfect as a potential team Steiner could at least acquire an ownership stake in.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed earlier this month “there are many interested parties” in acquiring RB, but failed to confirm whether the former Haas boss was one of these; “There are many interested parties, but in the end it is a shareholder decision,” he explained. “The price is high for a team, nothing has been decided yet.”
Ironically, RB currently sit one place above Steiner’s former employers after a great start to the season from Yuki Tsunoda who is currently carrying the team. Whether Steiner would move to RB is to be confirmed, but there would be a certain sweetness to financially supporting the team who is biggest rivals with his former place of work.
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