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F1 pundit Craig Slater has reported that Haas' ex-team principal, Guenther Steiner, got to know about his contract termination in December and that he has not yet had a chance to say farewell to every team member.
The Kannapolis-based outfit recently relieved Steiner from team principal duties and recruited Ayao Komatsu for the position instead. This has quickly become one of the biggest stories of the 2023–24 winter break.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, reporter Craig Slater claimed that he talked to some of the team members who told him that Guenther Steiner found out about his departure sometime at the end of December.
"When I checked in with the Haas team today with people I speak to there, they've told me that Guenther Steiner found out about this towards the end of December. He hasn't had an opportunity to go and say his goodbyes at the factory. He is still in the UK at the moment; that's interesting as well. [It must be] a surprise to him that he would not be getting his contract renewed," Slater said.
As soon as the reports about Steiner learning about his departure from Haas hit the social media platform, many F1 fans reacted to it. While some stated Mick Schumacher felt the same when he was removed from the team by the Italian-American, others claimed it was not too much of a surprise since the team's downfall was noticeable.
Here are some of the reactions from fans:
"That’s how mick felt too."
Gene Haas on Guenther Steiner and his team's future in Formula 1
Gene Haas recently spoke to F1's Lawrence Barretto about Guenther Steiner's departure and what the future looks like for his F1 team.
Haas first talked about how the team has been finishing ninth and tenth in the constructors' championship for quite some years now. While he did not fully put the blame on Steiner, he claimed that the Haas F1 team needed to head in a different direction.
“Here we are in our eighth year, over 160 races – we have never had a podium. The last couple of years, we’ve been 10th or ninth. I’m not sitting here saying it’s Guenther’s fault, or anything like that, but it just seems like this was an appropriate time to make a change and try a different direction, because it doesn’t seem like continuing with what we had is really going to work,” he said.
During the 2023 F1 season, the Kannapolis-based team scored just 12 points and finished dead last in the table.
