“It stung,” said Guenther Steiner about not being able to say a final goodbye to his team after Haas surprisingly axed him before the 2024 season. Owner Gene Haas chose not to renew the Italian-American’s contract, effectively pushing him out of F1. But Steiner’s captivating personality has found him jobs in the media side of F1. Yet, the fire to steer an F1 team to glory is burning within him.

Steiner spent 10 years slogging to get Haas from being last to at least, be midfielders, only to have the tag of a Netflix star as his best achievement. The 59-year-old could only push the American team to a P5 as their best Constructors’ championship finish. Finally, Gene Haas fired him because of an apparent rift that emerged between the two because of different management styles.

But now that all the drama is behind him, he has revealed on what condition he’ll make his spectacular return. “If there is a project which can give me the opportunity to be on the podium,” Steiner said on the Formula for Success podcast before cutting himself off to shut the Team Principal option. “I am not trying to get a job as a Team Principal in an existing team. If there is a project around, it could be an existing team, a new team, whatever, to get on the podium.”

“Next time, I look not only to do it today to go to the racetrack,” the 59-year-old remarked. “I do it (considering) ‘What can I do in three to five years’. That’s what I am missing because you work as hard as last as you do to be first. So going into a team that is 7th or 8th and fighting for the same thing like we did at Haas, not to become last, that is not what I want to do anymore. I am done with that. Success now means podiums, not only be there. If that doesn’t come up, I am pretty happy where I am.”

The only teams that can promise Steiner a podium are Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and maybe Mercedes. But he believes teams like these won’t even allow him in.

Guenther Steiner claims F1’s ‘corporate’ teams won’t entertain his behavior

If you’ve watched ‘Drive to Survive’, Guenther Steiner was the most unabashed character in the F1 paddock. He still is. His interviews and podcast appearances produce hilarious gems for listeners. The former Haas boss believes it is this personality that would cost him employment in teams that corporately conduct themselves.

“I think behaving like I behaved, it wouldn’t have damaged their [Mercedes’] brand,” Steiner said on the Formula for Success podcast. “But they wouldn’t have allowed it. I don’t behave badly, I just have got my own style. And I think a big corporate that doesn’t like that, because it is a big corporate.” He even named McLaren as having the most strict ‘corporate’ structure followed by Red Bull.

As fans, we would love to witness Steiner at his best within the F1 paddock again. Though opportunities look scarce now, F1 is as unpredictable as it gets. For all we know, the Italian-American could join Andretti, if and when F1 approves their bid.