If it hadn’t been for a long lunch with Niki Lauda, a willingness to swap grand prix racing for NASCAR, and a vision for a US F1 team, it’s unlikely Guenther Steiner would have found himself leading Haas in Formula 1.

In this episode from Motor Sport’s My big break series, Steiner tells Chris Medland about the make-or-break moments that brought him to his current role.

He describes his move to Jaguar’s F1 team from Ford’s World Rally team — at the behest of Lauda — and his rapid disillusionment at the corporate structure. Following a short spell with Jaguar, Steiner returned to the paddock with newly-formed Red Bull, and then transferred to its US division to set up a NASCAR team.

The American life suited Steiner so much that the Italian-born 56-year-old ended up co-founding a successful composites company and championing the idea of a US-based Formula 1 team, which brought him into contact with Gene Haas….

He may be best known to the wider world for his outbursts on Netflix’s Drive to Survive series but, as Steiner explains, his is a story about the rewards on offer when you take risks.