Guenther Steiner on Romain Grosjean: “He became a liability” as the Italian former Haas F1 team boss reveals a tumultuous partnership with the former F1 driver – For five years, Guenther Steiner, the straight-talking team principal of Haas Formula 1, worked alongside French driver Romain Grosjean, a partnership that was successful at times but increasingly strained as tensions grew.

In his book *Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1,* Steiner gives an unvarnished account of his frustrations and growing problems with Grosjean, particularly during the 2018 F1 season, which proved to be pivotal in the decline of their working relationship.

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Strong start fades into struggles

The 2018 season began with high hopes for the Haas team. An American-owned outfit was still finding its feet in F1, Haas finished the year in an impressive fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, scoring a record-breaking 93 points – more than the previous five years combined.

However, the season’s success was not evenly spread across the driver line-up.

Grosjean’s team-mate Kevin Magnussen put in a solid performance, scoring 56 points with eleven top-ten finishes. Grosjean, on the other hand, struggled to find his form and contributed just 37 points to the team’s tally. Steiner recalls that Grosjean’s difficulties began at the start of the season, with eight races elapsing before he scored his first points.

The pressure was mounting and, in Steiner’s view, Grosjean’s inconsistency was becoming a liability for the team.

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Australia 2018: A turning point

Steiner points to the season-opening race in Melbourne, Australia, as the event that triggered Grosjean’s downward spiral.

In Melbourne, Haas looked set for a strong start, with both Grosjean and Magnussen in contention for points. However, a pit stop error ended their chances prematurely. An incorrectly fitted wheel nut resulted in both drivers coming off the track after their stops, a catastrophic loss of points and momentum for the team.

For Grosjean, the botched start seemed to foreshadow a season of missteps.

“Romain never really recovered from what happened in Australia,” Steiner reflects.

The psychological toll of the Australian disappointment weighed heavily on Grosjean’s season, and a pattern of mistakes began to emerge.

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The breaking point: Baku crash

Steiner recounts a particularly frustrating episode at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Haas, in a promising position for points, found themselves under the safety car – a rare opportunity to secure a strong finish. But as Grosjean warmed up his tyres under caution, he inexplicably hit a wall, causing a collision that stunned both the team and the fans.

Reflecting on the incident, Steiner didn’t hold back in his assessment.

“It reached a point where he became a liability for us,” he writes, recounting his despair and disbelief.

For Steiner, the crash symbolised the culmination of Grosjean’s struggles and demonstrated a lack of focus that was costing Haas dearly.

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Steiner’s unfiltered reaction

Known for his blunt style and intense passion for racing, Steiner recalls that the Baku crash tested his patience to the limit. With the cameras turned away, Steiner admits to losing his temper in a frank outburst.

“I know I swear now and then,” says Steiner, “but when the TV cameras were off and gone, I really let it rip!”

His frustration was compounded by the sheer absurdity of the incident – a crash during a safety car period was not only embarrassing, it was avoidable.

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Why Grosjean stayed on

Despite the setbacks, Grosjean stayed with Haas for another two years. Steiner admits it may have been a surprising decision, especially after a season marked by so many costly mistakes.

But Grosjean’s experience and occasional flashes of brilliance were valuable to the team, especially given Formula One’s rigorous requirements for driver continuity and development.

However, Steiner’s patience with Grosjean eventually ran out. At the end of the 2020 season, Grosjean’s tenure with Haas came to a dramatic end with his fiery crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix, a horrific accident that became one of the most talked about moments of the year.

Grosjean miraculously survived the crash and his departure from Haas led him to the IndyCar series. But as Steiner notes in his book, the 2018 season had already sown the seeds for their eventual parting.

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Grosjean’s transition to IndyCar and uncertain future

After leaving Formula 1, Grosjean moved to IndyCar, where he initially enjoyed a fresh start. His aggressive driving style was a natural fit for the US-based series and he put in a number of impressive performances.

However, recent reports suggest that his IndyCar career may be coming to an end, with Grosjean currently without a team for the 2025 season. The journey that began in Formula 1 and continued in IndyCar could be about to enter another uncertain chapter.

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Reflections on a rollercoaster relationship

In *Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula One*, Steiner’s account of his years at Haas includes many highs and lows, but his reflections on Grosjean illustrate the difficult balance required when managing drivers with inconsistent performances.

For a team principal, the role is as much about strategy and performance as it is about navigating complex personal dynamics.

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What lies ahead for Haas

Since Grosjean’s departure, Haas has made significant changes to its driver line-up, bringing in talents such as Mick Schumacher and, more recently, veteran Nico Hulkenberg. As Haas works to regain its mid-field position, Steiner continues to build a team dynamic that can support steady progress rather than sporadic ups and downs.

As F1 fans await the next developments in Haas’ journey, Steiner’s reflections on Grosjean serve as a compelling case study in the challenges faced by team principals who must manage not only strategy but also the emotional and psychological resilience of their drivers.

Through his candid words, Steiner offers an insight into the tension between loyalty and performance in the high-stakes world of Formula One, shining a light on the often unseen personal dramas that can shape a team’s destiny.

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MORE F1 NEWS – Williams to miss the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One is seeing unprecedented times. At the recent Sao Paulo Grand Prix, qualifying was postponed from its regular Saturday slot and listed for sunrise on Sunday morning. 

Further due to the torrential rain expected on race day, the mandated four hour time period between qualifying and the race was shortened to two and a half hours which meant Williams did not have the time to rebuild Alex Albon’s car following his crash in qualifying.

Moving a Grand Prix forward an hour and a half was also unprecedented in the modern era as the sport is highly sensitive to the scheduling of the TV companies who bring in around 25% of F1’s revenue…READ MORE ON THIS STORY