Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has played down suggestions the American outfit could close down amid its nightmarish 2019 season and claims his boss – Gene Haas – is not losing patience with the sport at the highest level.
The American outfit – and their wayward drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen – have been the most affected by Pirelli’s difficult-to-understand 2019 tyres.
When asked if the affair is getting him down, in the wake of the Grosjean-Magnussen shenanigans and subsequent collision at Silverstone, Steiner insisted to Ekstra Bladet: “I am no longer in kindergarten.”
But the bigger risk is that team owner Gene Haas could be tiring of how difficult 2019 is turning out to be.
Steiner was asked if there is a risk the American millionaire could pull the team out of the sport,
“Gene has been in racing for a long time. He knows things don’t always go better and better.
“I don’t want to say he is happy about the current situation. Why should he be? You can’t blame him for that. But he knows that as long as we make a comeback, everything will be fine,” he added.
Also adding misery to their campaign is the bizarre saga surrounding its controversial title sponsor, the latest installation in the Rich Energy soap-opera is that its bearded boss William Storey has been ousted, with the energy drink company renamed Lightning Volt.
Steiner explained: “The people that want to take over would like to continue with us. We will talk to them about this in the coming weeks. They must agree about what they are doing in the future.”
Big Question: Is Guenther doing a good enough job for Haas?
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