Sacked F1 boss REJECTS return offers as new venture confirmed

An axed F1 boss has reportedly had several offers to return to the sport before settling on his new team.

Several familiar faces have left the F1 paddock in recent years, with big names such as Christian Horner and Guenther Steiner no longer in charge of their respective teams.

Steiner was axed by Haas at the beginning of the 2024 season and replaced by Ayao Komatsu, but the Drive to Survive legend has recently announced the next stage of his motorsport career.

The Italian will work with the Tech3 MotoGP squad, after a consortium led by Steiner took over the team from previous owner Herve Poncharal.

In 2026, Steiner will step up as the CEO of the Tech3 squad, with his business partner Richard Coleman acting as team principal.

Coleman revealed that Steiner had received several offers and a chance of a F1 return, but the ex-Haas boss had rejected them in favour of MotoGP.

“Guenther's had quite a few offers and bits and bobs in Formula 1, but we've both been in environments where we've had strained relationships with people we've worked with, and we just wanted to do something that was very much on our terms, that we had full control over," Coleman explained to Autosport.

Steiner swaps F1 for MotoGP

MotoGP will become the fourth motorsport series Steiner has worked in, starting his career as a mechanic in rallying, helping Red Bull launch their NASCAR team, and of course his stint as F1 team principal with Haas.

When asked why he did not target a return to F1, Steiner said: "Why not another project in Formula 1?

"First of all, I would say [MotoGP] is something I always looked at and never had time [for], and it was interesting.

“I think Formula 1 is at the stage [where] I've done it, I've been there long enough, so I [wanted to] do something new. I always like new challenges. I moved to the States to open up a NASCAR team when I was in Formula 1.

“Formula 1 is fantastic, but it's not the only thing you can do in motorsport. I always like challenges in my life to do something new because when we started, I thought, ‘do you think I can make this happen?’ And we made it happen.”

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