Drive to Survive legend slams F1 race winner

Guenther Steiner frowns while in Haas uniform — Photo: © IMAGO

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Drive to Survive legend slams F1 race winner

It is a brutally honest verdict

Rhys Thomas

Sunday 14 July 2024 05:00

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has issued a scathing verdict on one active F1 race winner.

The Italian-American shot to mainstream fame through Netflix's Drive to Survive series, in which he unexpectedly became a key protagonist for his quotable expletives and temperament.

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Haas opted to replace the 59-year-old with Ayao Komatsu ahead of the 2024 season, and Steiner now works for German broadcaster RTL.

The American team's decision seems to have paid off, with Haas amassing 27 points so far this season, having only managed 12 across 2023.

Guenther Steiner was formerly team principal at Haas

Ayao Komatsu took over as Haas team principal at the start of 2024

Steiner says star 'has shown nothing'

As the 2025 driver line-ups continue to be announced, Steiner took aim at Valtteri Bottas, who is yet to confirm whether he will remain in the sport upon the expiry of his Stake F1 Team contract.

"I think he will have difficulty to find a good seat again," Steiner said on the Red Flags Podcast.

"Mercedes knows him very well, and they maybe know something we don’t know, and they know how to get him going again."

Bottas, who drove for Mercedes between 2017-2021, recently shared that though he has spoken extensively with team principal Toto Wolff, discussions did not include him replacing his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton in 2025.

Valtteri Bottas is still on the hunt for a seat in 2025

The Finn explained that he did not want to fill a seat for a single year, and is hunting for more security on the grid, perhaps away from his current team, where has not yet scored points this campaign.

"With that car [in] the last years, he has shown nothing. Maybe it’s not completely his fault. Can you imagine for a driver who won races every year on a consistent basis, going to fight for P17 for two or three years?

"That takes you down, in my opinion. At some stage, you think, ‘why do I actually do this’, you know?"

Bottas appears keen to remain in F1, though, and told Mirror Sport that he is searching for a "multi-year" deal with a "clear plan for the years ahead."

Lewis Hamilton Haas Valtteri Bottas Guenther Steiner Netflix