“Well, pretty much all of them. Well, to be precise, all of them except Ron Dennis [the McLaren chairman], who gave me shit in a team principals’ meeting. “
McLaren is now once more the pre-eminent force in F1, but back in 2016 the team was arguably at its nadir, campaigning a barely-sponsored car with an underpowered Honda hybrid engine in the back.
Drivers Jenson Button, and particularly Fernando Alonso, were deeply unhappy with the situation. Team boss Dennis, who had taken retaken the reins of the F1 team in 2014 after stepping back five years before, was feeling the pressure. A new team like Haas coming in and immediately outperforming the Woking squad didn’t improve his mood.
“He said we were circumventing the regulations,” says Steiner. “I replied, ‘The regulations are available to everyone, so you can read them if you like. Oh and if you don’t have a copy, just go on the internet and you’ll find them.’
“There was an atmosphere then, because people didn’t talk to Ron like that. But I wasn’t nasty – I just explained that I’d followed the regulations.
“Even so, by the time I’d finished saying what I had to say, Ron was on his feet and shouting at me. It was pretty good fun.”
Steiner and Haas arrived with a bang in F1 – on and off-track
Grand Prix Photo
McLaren would actually finish ahead of Haas in the 2016 constructors’ standings, but then fall behind its minnow rival in both 2017 and 2018.
Steiner and his team had shown they were a force to be reckoned with, and Haas still has a strong presence on the grid today – continuing with the same listed parts method.
The Italian left the team before the 2024 season and has now turned his attention to MotoGP.
Find out his full plans for two-wheel domination and more in this month’s magazine.
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Guenther Steiner: ‘F1 again? Never say never’• Drive to Survive made the then Haas principal a household name, yet his switch to F1 came late in his career. Here he talks of his rally years, a pivotal call from Niki Lauda and his decision to trade four-wheeled racing for two Read the full interview in the latest issue of Motor Sport |