Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has revealed how he’s dealt with being a valued member of Formula 1’s ‘Piranha club’ for several years, with the Italian-American having dealt with the political aspects of his role remarkably well.
Formula 1’s ‘Piranha club’ is effectively those who’ve survived the longest in the F1 battleground, with Steiner having led Haas since they joined the sport in 2016.
He’s seen several team principals come and go over the years, with only the strongest surviving all the politics involved in the sport.
Steiner’s friend and former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was the most recent team principal to feel the full wrath of the sport’s political landscape, with the Swiss-Italian having fallen out with the bosses of the famous manufacturer.
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He was also ridiculed by questions from the media regarding Ferrari’s endless strategic errors, with his response having always been virtually the same.
It takes “thick skin” to survive at the pinnacle of motorsport, with Steiner admitting that for him at least, the political battles are simply “part of the job”.
“It doesn’t do anything for me. It’s part of the job,” Steiner said, as reported by Speedcafe.com.
“If you cannot deal with it…I wouldn’t say you enjoy it but you know it’s part of the job and you do it.
“Once you start to enjoy negative things, then you’re quite a sad person, and I’m not a sad person.
“You deal with it as part of your job and you are always trying to get the best out of it.
“Your skin gets very thick after a while,” admitted Steiner.
“It’s like ‘Oh, right, come on, boy. Here we go, let’s play now.”
Steiner’s friendship with Binotto was shown recently in the new series of ‘Drive to Survive’, with the duo having taken a trip to Binotto’s vineyard.
Following his resignation from Ferrari, Binotto is actually serving a 12-month period of gardening leave, with him not set to return to the paddock until 2024 at the earliest.
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Despite this, Steiner has revealed that Binotto is “in a good place”, and will eventually “fall on his feet” with a new job.
“I spoke with him [recently] and he’s in a good place,” Steiner said.
“A guy like Mattia, he will fall on his feet.”