If it hadn’t been for a long lunch with Niki Lauda, a willingness to swap grand prix racing for NASCAR, and a vision for a US F1 team, it’s unlikely Guenther Steiner would have found himself leading Haas in Formula 1.
In this episode from Motor Sport’s My big break series, Steiner tells Chris Medland about the make-or-break moments that brought him to his current role.
He describes his move to Jaguar’s F1 team from Ford’s World Rally team — at the behest of Lauda — and his rapid disillusionment at the corporate structure. He returned to the paddock with newly-formed Red Bull, and then transferred to its US division to set up a NASCAR team.
The American life suited Steiner so much that the Italian-born 56-year-old ended up co-founding a successful composites company and championing the idea of a US-based Formula 1 team, which brought him into contact with Gene Haas….
With the Winter Olympics upon us, we figured we’d bring you another World Champion…. a figure skating World Champion. Six-time National Champion, Three-time Olympian and 1996 World Champion Todd Eldredge is not only one of the greatest American skaters in the sport’s history, but he’s a racer. A lifelong motorsport fan, he knows his stuff about the sport, burned through a few cars during track days, and is even an avid sim racer including DwR’s “Thursday Night Blunder.” In this episode, we get in to the weeds of ice skating for those interested, getting in to the complicated details and offering some cautionary tales analogous to sportscar. Dinner was served at Gracias Madre in Irvine, CA, with the song “Winter Dress” by Humming House taking us out. Thanks again to Continental Tire and Acura and for making it all happen.
