They were charging $600 (£310) for some tickets to ‘An Evening with Günther Steiner’ at the Melbourne Arts Center this week.
Of course, for such fun, you’re entitled to a post-show meet-and-greet with the man, not to mention “a signed copy of Steiner’s book Surviving to Drive, a VIP tour lanyard, plus canapes and drinks.” Still, the eye-watering cost was another sobering reminder of the power of Netflix’s smash hit. Drive to Survive The series that made Steiner an unlikely star.
Four months after being ‘let go’ by American team Haas, the moustachioed former team boss, famous for his potty mouth, remains a huge focus of attention.
Steiner smiles. He insists he doesn’t take its popularity for granted, adding that he’s aware there are many who find the monster Netflix has created exhausting. “I am not a person that everyone likes, no matter what,” he admits. “I’m okay with that. You cannot be liked by everyone. Either with me. But obviously there’s a crowd out there that enjoys my presence…”
He’s not wrong about this. Steiner, who works for Channel 10 in Melbourne, can’t walk 10 meters in Albert Park without being stopped by fans asking for selfies or autographs. Given his profile, it unsurprisingly didn’t take long for publishers to find their way to his door. The 58-year-old player reached a seven-race agreement with RTL at the beginning of the season. “If they had asked me to do 24 races it would have been a no-no,” he says. “But there are seven races I can enter.” He is also a columnist for F1.com.
It’s not hard to imagine him making a permanent move into media. In fact, he notes to himself how much he enjoys his new show. “You just go away for four days and then come back home,” he says in his distinctive South Tyrolean twang. “F—— hell! Easy!”
‘I will not shop on my own’
However, he does not rule out a return to the grid. “I’m very open-minded,” he says. “I said that at the beginning. I just see what’s out there. You know, I talk to a lot of people, I still have a lot of friends. I obviously disagree operationally [at Haas any more], but it’s just people calling me and chatting and stuff like that. But I’m in no rush. I won’t be going out to shop myself. But if people ask, you look at it, say yes or no, and talk to them.”
It will be interesting to see if Steiner can find his way back. Even though he is a pantomime character on Netflix, there are those in the Haas team he founded who think he did a pretty good job with a very limited budget. He went out and found funding for himself 10 years ago.
He eventually had a “difference of opinion” with team owner Gene Haas on how best to proceed. He basically wanted more investment to get to the next level. “Gene’s idea was to continue the way we were going.”
This begs the question: What would Steiner do if he were given the keys to Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes? A true heavyweight team with a massive budget and infrastructure? Is he like Sam Allardyce, who famously said in the 2010s: “I don’t fit at Bolton or Blackburn, I’d better suit at Internazionale or Real Madrid”?
After all, just kidding, given the circus surrounding Christian Horner, Red Bull may be looking for a new team boss soon. He is accustomed to crisis management and speaks German fluently. “Ha ha, I don’t think so,” Steiner replies with a laugh. “F—— damn, can you imagine?”
But he defends his management record. “It’s easy to say: ‘Yes, I can do this.’ However, this has not yet been proven. Do I believe I can do it? Yes. But it is a very competitive environment.”
He was sure that he was working at Haas with his hands tied behind his back. He now says he stayed “too long.” “At some point you realize ‘I can’t get there’ because it’s like you’re at the traffic lights and you’re there with, I don’t know, a Skoda… and there’s a Ferrari next to you. Can I start faster at the start? I don’t think so, mate. That’s never going to happen.”
‘There is respect’
Steiner says he takes solace in the fact that (at least some of) his fellow team principals appreciate what he has been able to achieve with limited resources. “After that [he lost his job] A few of them messaged me saying, ‘Hey, you did a good job. You couldn’t have done more. It wasn’t in your hands anymore.’ I received a few messages. A few called me. So I think the respect is there.
For now, Steiner says he is happy to be off the “F1 hamster wheel” for a while. During the winter months, he enjoyed spending more time at home with his wife Gertraud and daughter Greta. They live in Lake Norman, North Carolina, with a host of Nascar drivers who moved to the US side in 2006 when Red Bull moved over the Pond to arrange its entry into the series. “Being away for a bit gives you some perspective.” notes.
One thing is clear. Whether you love him or hate him, Steiner is likely to remain a fixture of F1, whether in the team environment or on our screens, for some time to come. I think maybe he should just focus on breaking into the entertainment industry. Did he consider Hollywood? “Ha!” Laughs. “Maybe I should ask Arnold [Schwarzenegger] What if we can do something together? “We have a similar accent, but I always say his is a little worse.”