Guenther Steiner shares how Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen reacted to Haas sacking in 2020

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Haas has been through many highs and many rough lows in their time in Formula 1. There is no better person to tell anyone that than Guenther Steiner.

The 59-year-old enjoyed a long career in the pinnacle of motorsport that begun back in 2001 with Jaguar. Serving as technical director at Red Bull from 2005 to 2008, Steiner embarked on his toughest adventure in F1 with Haas, as he was announced as their team principal in 2014.

Entering the sport in 2016 with Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez, the team became the first American constructor to compete in F1 in 30 years. Haas finished the season eighth in the standings, with Grosjean scoring all 29 of their points.

Gutierrez was replaced by Kevin Magnussen in 2017 after his departure from Renault and the team began to make a stride forward towards more regular points finishes, scoring 47 that season. Despite an ‘Agatha Christie-like’ disaster in Australia, 2018 was Haas’ best season to date as they finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 93 points.

But in 2019, the team would hit financial issues, beginning with the tumultuous partnership with Rich Energy as their title sponsor, which was terminated after just 14 Grand Prix as the company faced several legal issues throughout the year.

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen ‘took the news well’ after they were sacked by Haas in 2020

Scoring 28 points in 2019, Haas’ issues would reach breaking point in 2020 as Grosjean and Magnussen desperately struggled with underperforming machinery, scoring just three points all season.

For Steiner, who reflected on the season in his new book ‘Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula One’, a change needed to be made to save the team from financial woe. This meant abandoning development of their 2021 car and changing their driver line-up.

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

The then Haas team principal said that Grosjean and Magnussen ‘appreciated’ the decision as driving a poor car for two seasons would be damaging to their careers.

Speaking about the 2020 season, Steiner wrote: “The only obvious substantial saving we could make for the following season was to change drivers.

“Both Kevin and Romain’s contracts were up for renewal at the end of 2020 and so after discussing it with Gene we agreed to make a change, not only because it would save the team money but because I was fairly sure that neither Kevin nor Romain would want to drive an uncompetitive car for two seasons, let alone one.

“I obviously did not know for sure how uncompetitive the car was going to be in 2020, but 2021 would be a certainty. Despite this, and despite the logic of them both moving on, I was not looking forward to having the conversation. But it had to be done.

“Both drivers took the news as well as could be expected and there were no arguments or even raised voices. They appreciated how demoralizing it would be to drive an uncompetitive car and how damaging that might be to their careers. It wouldn’t be much of a showcase.”

Haas have had a resurgence in form in the 2024 season

Perhaps as expected, Haas endured their worst season in 2021 with rookies Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher as they failed to score a point all year. Magnussen returned to the team the following year in place of Mazepin and the team scored 37 points, their best points tally since 2018.

Schumacher, son of seven-time champion Michael, was dismissed by Haas for the 2023 season in favour of Nico Hulkenberg, but the team finished bottom of the constructors’ standings with just 12 points. This was the final straw for Gene Haas as he opted to sack Steiner as team principal before the 2024 campaign.

Ayao Komatsu succeeded the 59-year-old, and the American outfit have enjoyed an upturn in form this season as they sit on 46 points with three races to go.

Hulkenberg has grabbed 31 of those points as he sits 10th in the standings in what has been an impressive season for the German. Magnussen has been replaced by F2 driver Oliver Bearman twice this season at Baku and Sao Paulo, with the Brit joining the team full-time next season.

Esteban Ocon will partner the Brit in an all-new driver pairing for Haas in 2025, with Hulkenberg joining Sauber on a multi-year deal while Magnussen’s future is currently unknown.