Guenther Steiner

Lore & Background

Born in Merano, South Tyrol, the son of a butcher, Steiner studied engineering without completing his degree, then moved to Belgium, where he began his career as a mechanic in the World Rally Championship for Mazda Rally Team Europe from 1986 to 1988. From January 1989 to 1990, he worked as assistant team manager for Top Run Srl. He acted as head of reconnaissance, and later as technical manager, at Jolly Club from 1991 to 1996. In 1997, Steiner managed Prodrive's Allstar Rally team, winning the European Rally Championship with Krzysztof Hołowczyc, and in 1998 M-Sport recruited him as project manager.

In 2000, he was promoted to director of engineering, working under the Ford World Rally Team alongside Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, securing consecutive runner-up finishes in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Steiner switched to Formula One in 2001 when Jaguar Racing appointed him as team principal; Niki Lauda headhunted him for the job of managing director. He reorganized the team and reduced costs, but Jaguar underperformed in 2002, and he was replaced by David Pitchforth on 5 December.

He spent the 2003 season on garden leave before becoming technical director at Opel Performance Center in November 2003. After Red Bull purchased Jaguar Racing in November 2004, Steiner was invited to join Red Bull Racing; his appointment as technical operations director was confirmed on 13 January 2005. He and team principal Christian Horner jointly led the outfit to improved results in the 2005 season. When Red Bull poached Adrian Newey from McLaren, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz approached Steiner to help establish a NASCAR team in the United States.

Steiner moved to Mooresville, North Carolina, where he served as Team Red Bull's technical director from 1 April 2006 to April 2008. He remained in Mooresville after leaving Red Bull, founding Fibreworks Composites in January 2009. The original vision for establishing the Haas F1 Team began with a business plan he wrote at his kitchen table during the financial crisis of the late 2000s. He met Joe Custer and Gene Haas of Stewart–Haas Racing at a steakhouse, proposing they enter F1 by ordering a customer car; delays in securing approval prompted them to apply as a privateer team. On 14 April 2014, he was officially announced team principal of Haas F1 Team.

Reader's Guide

Guenther Steiner is a motorsport engineer and former team manager. He served as Team Principal of Haas F1 Team from 2016 to 2023, managing director of Jaguar Racing from 2001 to 2003, and technical operations director of Red Bull Racing from 2005 to 2006. He is currently CEO and owner of Red Bull KTM Tech3, acquired in September 2025. He is known for his forthright personality and appearances on Formula 1: Drive to Survive.