Guenther Steiner admits Haas sacking came as a big surprise

American-based Haas has always prided itself on running a Formula 1 team on a massively reduced budget compared to the rest of the grid.

From sourcing parts to the way they go about engineering, Haas has always been at the forefront of cost-cutting in Formula One.

However, their results on track have been mixed from the highs of 2018 when they finished fifth in the Constructors' Champions to the lows like the 2023 season.

And even though Steiner freely admits the team was below par under his leadership last year, he was still a bit surprised to learn he had been sacked.

Although he did suspect his time at the team was coming to an end, he just thought he would not get a new contract after the one he had expired at the end of 2024.

"Obviously nobody was happy with the results in 2023 but I didn't see this coming," Steiner told Sky Sports News.

"I knew that the renewal of my contract was coming up and then when a renewal is coming up it can be that it's not getting renewed."

Steiner rose to fame thanks to the Netflix documentary "Drive to Survive" and while he says he has no regrets about his behaviour on the show, he also says his main focus was always the team.

"I didn't get up in the morning to be a celebrity," he said.

"I get up in the morning to work. But I think it worked a lot in favour of the team because without that maybe it would have been closed before."

READ MORE: Andrea Stella's insight: Max Verstappen's championship quest - A McLaren challenge?