Guenther Steiner has made a seamless transition from Formula 1 team principal to media personality this season.
And leaving Haas in January, he hasn’t ruled out a return to the grid in some capacity, but his insights into the sport in his new role are very interesting.
Guenther Steiner was speaking on the Nailing The Apex Podcast and casting his eye across the current grid.
There have been some standout performances in 2024 and some of those have already earned new contracts for those drivers for next season and beyond.
Fernando Alonso has once again shown that age is just a number as he continues to outclass Lance Stroll at Aston Martin.
He’s signed a new deal ending speculation that he could be heading to Red Bull or Mercedes.
Last week, Nico Hulkenberg announced his switch to Sauber from Audi after a brilliant start to the campaign.
Guenther Steiner has been full of praise for Hulkenberg and admits he was surprised at just how fast he was when he joined Haas.
The 36-year-old has earned his long-awaited return to a works team as he chases that first coveted Formula 1 podium.
READ MORE: Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height
Guenther Steiner left surprised by how fast Nico Hulkenberg was at Haas
At the end of the 2022 season, Guenther Steiner was left with a big decision to make on his driver line-up.
After the rookie line-up of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher failed the year before, the Russian driver was replaced by Kevin Magnussen.
Magnussen showed that Haas’s cars had more pace than first thought and put Schumacher in a difficult position.
When Nico Hulkenberg became available, it made complete sense for Steiner to make that switch and his impact after joining the team left the former team principal very surprised.
Haas still finished bottom of the Constructors’ Championship last year, but Hulkenberg scored nine points in a car that could barely string a few laps together without destroying its tyres.
Three points finishes in the first five races this season have put Hulkenberg firmly on the radar of several of Haas’s rivals.
Steiner even previously suggested after the Bahrain Grand Prix that Mercedes should consider him as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton.
However, his anticipated move to Sauber – soon to be Audi – is now complete.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship
Nico Hulkenberg prevented Haas from being embarrassed in 2023
Talking about hiring Hulkenberg last year, Steiner said: “We never had the biggest wallet to pay people, so I need to make it interesting for somebody to come to Haas which is good because after the years before it was difficult.
“But, can you imagine last year, having Kevin [Magnussen] and Mick [Schumacher] in the car? It wouldn’t have been an easy year.
“We got some highlights last year mainly because of Nico [Hulkenberg] and he did a fantastic job.
“And I was positively surprised when he came in, I knew he was good but I didn’t think he could come back this strong, personally.
“I was more than happy with it, but I must admit I was impressed, I couldn’t say this was all coming.
“I was hoping for good but I got better, I think we gave him a good opportunity but he played ball, he was very loyal to us because he always told me, ‘You gave me a new chance.’
“We respect each other, we’ve got a good relationship, we don’t need to speak about this because he helped me and I helped him.
“Without him, Haas would have been in trouble last year, we were in trouble anyway but at least we had some highlights and this year he’s doing great again.”
Hulkenberg may have surprised Steiner with how well he performed, but he has more than 200 Grand Prix starts to his name and that experience is starting to shine through.
His racecraft is still improving and combine that with his brilliant performances in qualifying and you have a very strong driver.
He would be a regular points scorer if he was driving for someone like Mercedes or Aston Martin right now and Audi will hope he can hit the ground running when they officially join the grid in 2026.
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