F1 pundits slam team principal over lack of reaction to poor form

David Croft and Ted Kravitz, speaking on Sky Sports' year-end podcast, attribute Haas' lacklustre performance in 2023 to the leadership of Guenther Steiner.

The F1 season in 2023 turned out to be a disastrous one for Haas. Despite recruiting additional experience in the form of Nico Hulkenberg alongside Kevin Magnussen, the expectation of improved performance compared to Mick Schumacher was not easily met. The VF-23 faced challenges, and things took a downturn for the team.

Haas made a promising start to the 2023 season with three points finishes in the initial five grands prix. However, the team's fortunes took a nosedive as the season unfolded. While rival teams were quick to introduce various updates to enhance performance, Haas seemed to lag behind in this aspect.

The team only unveiled a substantial update during the United States Grand Prix, prompting observations from Sky Sports pundits that this crucial improvement could have been implemented much earlier in the season.

'Late upgrades down to Steiner'

“On technical performance, Guenther [Steiner] is last. Tenth out of 10 [team principals] for me,” Kravitz said.

Then, Croft asserted that he believed the team's lack of reaction and solutions to their technical issues was down to Steiner.

“The decision not to change things up earlier in the season, I'm lead to believe came from Guenther,” Croft added.

“It came from the top. It’s not a case of well we can't do it, it's a case of 'no we don't need to do it, let's see how things pan out'.

“Things panned out to the extent that the upgrades they worked and waited for came in Austin and it was too late by then, it really was.”

READ MORE: Steiner picks F1 legend to join Haas but snubs Verstappen

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