Guenther Steiner pinpoints moment he knew Romain Grosjean was a ‘liability’ and ‘went mental’ off-camera

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Guenther Steiner was always known for having a tricky relationship with his drivers when he was team principal at Haas.

The famous scenes in the Drive to Survive Netflix show often saw him swearing or angry at drivers for their conduct on track, with both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen receiving a dressing down when they collided at the 2019 British Grand Prix.

While it might seem like the pair were always at loggerheads with each other, Grosjean and Steiner had a mutual respect for each other during their five-year stint at Haas.

In new excerpts from Steiner’s book, Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1, the former team boss details the moment that he lost confidence in Grosjean.

Guenther Steiner berates Romain Grosjean for crashing under Safety Car

Steiner recalls how the 2018 season for Haas started off with Magunssen scoring the points, while Grosjean came close but kept making silly mistakes.

At the Australian GP he was running in the points on merit, but a failure in his pit stop forced him to retire when he exited without the front left wheel attatched properly. Steiner believes this run of bad form led to him ‘taking a dive’ and eventually becoming a ‘liability’ for the team.

“At three of the race he scored points and at the other three he finished just outside. Romain, on the other hand, never really recovered from what happened in Australia and his form took a dive, to the point where he eventually became a liability,” wrote Steiner.

“Two examples sprint to mind, one that was probably down to carelessness and one that beggars belief and was down to I still don’t know what.”

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

Steiner references the incident during the 2018 Azerbaijan GP, which has now become part of F1 folklore with Grosjean crashing into the barrier while warming up his tyres and his engineer claiming: “I think Ericsson hit us!” over team radio. Steiner was less than impressed by his driver.

“Towards the end of the race the safety car came out for a few laps, which was good news for us because we could almost smell the points. Then, while warming up his tyres on the run down to turn fifteen, Romain inexplicably went straight into the barriers,” recalled Steiner.

“Yes, you read that correctly: he crashed under the safety car. I know I like to swear every now and then but once the TV cameras had all disappeared from the vicinity I went f—– mental.”

Romain Grosjean never reached potential at Haas during five-year tenure

Grosjean joined the team at the very beginning of their F1 journey as a team in the 2016 season, scoring their first points at the Australian Grand Prix that year.

The Frenchman was a key force in developing them into a strong midfield team, peaking at fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship in 2018. Grosjean had Ayao Komatsu as his race engineer throughout this period, the now-team principal who he wishes he raced under.

But as the Frenchman’s form tailed off towards the end of the 2019 season, mistakes started to become more regular and the team grew frustrated with the amount of money it was costing them pre-cost cap.

Grosjean’s career at Haas culminated in a fiery exit from the 2020 Bahrain GP, when he speared into the barrier at the start at high speed and the car’s fuel tank exploded. Grosjean escaped with burns to his hands, but that would be his final outing for the American team.