Guenther Steiner admits ‘fantastic’ F1 driver turned down joining Haas twice

Follow us on Google Discover

Guenther Steiner is the latest team principal to build a team from scratch and keep them on the Formula 1 grid.

The 2024 season is the ninth consecutive year of Haas being in F1 but the first campaign where Guenther Steiner is no longer involved.

Haas replaced Steiner with Ayao Komatsu before the start of the season and the team have gone from strength to strength this year.

Much of the groundwork that Haas are building on this year originates from the work done at the end of Steiner’s tenure but the team are now moving further and further away from that framework.

Steiner was talking on The Red Flags Podcast about his time in charge of the team.

There are always more drivers who want to be in Formula 1 than available seats on the grid, but that doesn’t always mean teams get their desired pairings when delving into the market.

Haas had to try and attract the strongest drivers possible when they first joined the F1 paddock and Steiner has admitted that his first choice ended up rejecting him twice.

That man was Nico Hulkenberg and while he did finally join Haas last season, Steiner had been waiting for years for the 36-year-old to don the white, red and black overalls.

During his punditry work for Sky Sports F1 at the start of the season in Bahrain, Steiner described Hulkenberg as a ‘fantastic’ driver.

Haas’s rivals Sauber clearly agree as they’ve already tied down Hulkenberg to a contract for next season and beyond.

READ MORE: Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height

Nico Hulkenberg rejected Guenther Steiner twice before making Haas move

Asked why he decided to sign Hulkenberg despite his previous tough spell at Renault, Steiner said: “We go back a long time, in the beginning when we started Haas, he was my first option, I wanted to get him in the car.

“And at the last minute, he pulled out and stayed with Force India, but we talked a lot.

“We had a second talk a few years later to come to Haas and he again went to Renault instead at the time.

“I always respected him because for me he was one of these guys who always did it to himself to go to the wrong place and sometimes he made always the wrong decision in his career.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship

Nico Hulkenberg’s long wait for a Formula 1 podium continues

As Steiner referred to when talking about his pursuit of Hulkenberg, he’s always seemed to elude driving for a top Formula 1 team.

Romain Grosjean suggested Haas wanted Hulkenberg instead of him when he first joined the team in 2016.

When he raced in A1 GP and GP2, Hulkenberg was considered one of the fastest prospects to rise through the junior ranks for some time.

An albeit fortunate pole position during his debut F1 season with Williams confirmed that he had raw pace but since then the German has had to settle for cars fighting primarily in the middle of the pack.

Hulkenberg’s career path of Williams, Force India, Renault, Racing Point, Aston Martin and Haas is a sign that no top team has ever taken a gamble on the 36-year-old.

Ralf Schumacher has suggested that Hulkenberg would be a good teammate for Max Verstappen at Red Bull given the issues that Sergio Perez is having but it’s hard to see them buying him out of his Sauber contract for next year.

Instead, he’ll gamble on Audi turning up in 2026 and delivering a car that can challenge at the front of the grid.

That’s going to be an incredibly difficult task but Audi’s Head of F1 Andreas Seidl is despite to make it a success for Hulkenberg.

Tom Clarkson on the F1 Nation Podcast suggested that Seidl is calling Hulkenberg’s move to Sauber / Audi ‘Project Podium’ due to the fact the German has raced in more Grand Prix than any other driver without registering a top-three finish.