‘Who wants to be Toto?’- Guenther Steiner speaks to The Boar

Former F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner visited Warwick Arts Centre on the 14 November for his new show An Evening with Guenther Steiner. We were fortunate enough to speak with Guenther before the show to discuss his career and newly published book Unfiltered.

Guenther joined the world of Formula One in 2001 as Managing Director of Jaguar Racing before moving to Red Bull Racing for the 2005 season, where he was appointed as Technical Operations Director. After a brief stint in NASCAR until 2008, he returned to Formula One in 2014 as creator and Team Principal of the new Haas F1 Team.

We mentioned to Guenther the enthusiasm on campus for Formula One and asked how the pathway into the motorsport industry has changed since he first joined almost two decades ago.

“I think the pathway has changed. When I started motorsport, I wouldn’t say anybody could go there, but you didn’t need a special education.” However, nowadays motorsport is a career much like other engineering disciplines, with its own tailored university courses- as Guenther explains, not unlike the Aerospace industry.

It’s an industry which lives from passion. It’s not like working for a big corporate, you can make a difference by being smarter, working harder, and being enthusiastic

Although, he stressed that what had not changed about the field was the enthusiasm required. “You can just make it if you’re passionate about it. It’s an industry which lives from passion. It’s not like working for a big corporate, you can make a difference by being smarter, working harder, and being enthusiastic.”

As a result of the rapidly changing nature of the industry, the world of Formula One is completely unrecognisable compared to the previous two decades. Guenther agreed that it would be more difficult now for a team such as Haas to enter this world: “Everything got so much harder over the years. The stakes are so much higher.”

I don’t live by the comments on social media about me, because if I do that, I don’t live anymore

We then spoke to Guenther about Netflix’s hit F1 series Drive To Survive and the way in which he was portrayed as part of this. During the show, Guenther played a significant role and was a popular topic of conversation in the media as a result. In his response, he explained how he had become accustomed to the media attention, “I don’t live by the comments on social media about me, because if I do that, I don’t live anymore.”

He maintained the importance of respect in the media: “I obviously speak my mind, and I fully agree that not everybody needs to be of my opinion… as long as we respect each other’s opinion, it’s fine.”

He also voiced his annoyance at the media for inaccurately quoting him to make a misleading headline. However, when asked how this makes him feel, he revealed: “Does it annoy me? To be honest, I don’t care.”

Do I miss the racing? Actually, not too much

Guenther has since taken up a role within the world of F1 media and explained how this has changed his perspective of the sport: “When you’re too deep in the trenches, you don’t see the big picture anymore.” He describes his experience of becoming a pundit as “a good education” after 10 years in the same job. “Do I miss the racing? Actually, not too much.”

The foreword to Unfiltered was written by Mercedes Team Principal, and close friend of Guenther’s, Toto Wolff. He described Steiner’s management style as “unique”, and one which seems fitting for the son of a butcher. When asked if in hindsight he would alter his approach to leadership, he said “I wouldn’t change it. It’s a style.”

“Toto and I get on very well, even if we are completely different. I couldn’t be Toto, and Toto couldn’t be me. Who wants to be Toto? He worries a lot.”

By comparison, Guenther sees himself as far more relaxed. “I’m pretty chilled as a person. I cannot say I sleep well 100% of the time, but I sleep well 99.9% of the time. Because whatever happens in life… I’m chill.”

If this came in the middle of a marriage after 10 years, I think you would struggle

The balance between work and personal life is a topic frequently mentioned in Unfiltered. When asked how he managed to maintain this, he said: “It’s very difficult to maintain. I have an advantage, when I got married 30 years ago, I already had a very similar lifestyle, so my wife doesn’t know anything different. If this came in the middle of a marriage after 10 years, I think you would struggle.”

Guenther also pointed out that he did not have a life outside of Formula One. “When I’m at home, I’m at home. I have no hobby, I’ve no friends in general and I’m a lonely man so I stay at home.”

Family was frequently touched upon in Unfiltered, with Gunther’s wife, Gertraud, often being mentioned for her role in his career. She provided an outside perspective for her husband during his career. “I need someone who balances me out. She’s one of the few people who can actually control me somehow, because otherwise I would do a lot of stupid things.”

Unfiltered also discusses how Steiner managed to maintain the separation between Formula One and his personal life despite the demanding nature of his job as Haas Team Principal. “I try to divide it off. It comes in often, but it’s not the main topic in my house.”

“If you come to my house, you will see very little memorabilia of racing, you would not really think that I work in motorsport. It’s not like other people who have a trophy room and all that bullshit, I try to keep it out of my house.”

Throughout his decade at Haas, after having built the team from the ground up, Guenther faced many ups and downs, particularly during the tumultuous 2020 and 2021 seasons. When asked what he believed to be the biggest single challenge faced during his career, he identified the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to “make the team survive” during such a difficult period.

If I think back to how little we started with, it’s quite amazing that the team is still around

On a lighter note, when asked what he considered to be the highlight of his career, Steiner identified this as being the first time he watched the cars go racing: “It’s a cool moment”. He equally acknowledged the significance of hindsight, and the way in which this has altered the perspective of his career: “If I think back to how little we started with, it’s quite amazing that the team is still around.”

Finally, to conclude our interview with Guenther, we decided to ask him for his guidance for those looking to enter the field of F1, to which he responded: “I always give the same advice”. Above all, he explained, was the importance of learning: “First of all, you need to study, try to study motorsports.” However, it is also important to “try to do something practical on the side… try to help people out, a small team which needs any help, even if you are not paid. I call it building up your CV.”

As a result, these candidates become more attractive to employers; Guenther describes “the good feeling” when taking on someone who is clearly a “team player”. “It’s much better to have a nine student, who works with everybody, than a 10 student, who is working for themself”.

We would like to once again thank Guenther for agreeing to sit down with us and providing The Boar with this exclusive interview.