Tony Stewart’s Counter Part at SHR Under Major Scrutiny After Abrupt Firing of Formula 1 Employee

The conundrum continues at Haas F1. The sacking of team principal Guenther Steiner has been making noise within the racing community. To some, this decision might feel like a matter of time after a struggle-filled 2023. However, some have also argued that team owner Gene Haas has yet to follow the same approach in NASCAR with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Proposing a change in the mentality of the team, Mr. Haas argued that considering the equipment and facilities at their disposal, a P10 finish for the team in the final standings is unjustified. With Tony Stewart hoping to usher in a wind of change in SHR, Gene Haas has taken some inspiration from his business partner. However, the NASCAR community feels differently.

Gene Haas lists the reason behind Guenther Steiner’s departure from Haas F1

The announcement came as a surprise. The events unfolded, with technical director Simone Resta confirming his exclusion from the team’s plans. The decision to sack Guenther Steiner came soon after. Having laid the cornerstone for the team’s structure since Haas F1’s debut in 2016, Steiner would have wished for a better ending to his time with the team.

The team’s first team principal change means there will be consideration of suitors for the job. Ayao Komatsu has been touted to upgrade to team principal after serving in the trackside engineering role since 2016. Denouncing the team’s recent struggles despite its quality, Gene Haas revealed, “Here we are in our eighth year, over 160 races—we have never had a podium.”

“The last couple of years, we’ve been 10th or ninth. I’m not sitting here saying it’s Guenther’s fault or anything like that, but it just seems like this was an appropriate time to make a change and try a different direction, because it doesn’t seem like continuing with what we had is really going to work.”

Haas’ NASCAR investment, Stewart-Haas Racing, hasn’t been doing any better than its past few years, either. A winless 2023 combined with veterans Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola leaving the team has worsened its condition. With a rather unsettled core, it is tough to determine how the 2024 Cup Series season will fare for Tony Stewart and Co.

Coming back to the struggles of Gene Haas’s team in F1, the American team owner addressed the continuous failures as he stated, “I like Guenther; he’s a really nice person, a really good personality. We had a tough end to the year. I don’t understand that, I really don’t. Those are good questions to ask Guenther, what went wrong. At the end of the day, it’s about performance. I have no interest in being 10th anymore.”

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Now, the question that his statements have invoked in the racing community’s minds is: could the same mentality have worked wonders for a similarly struggling team in NASCAR? Some people believe Gene Haas should have done the same in NASCAR.

The racing community slams the Haas F1 owner for his team’s failures in multiple sports

Gene Haas’ decision to go with a bitter ending for the partnership with Guenther Steiner highlights the gravity of the situation. Barring one-off races, Haas F1 hasn’t been able to make any major impact in the standings recently. With Formula 1 fanatics holding team principal Steiner on a high pedestal for contributing to the team’s development, they have yet to like Mr. Haas’ statements.

One of the fans threw a sarcastic dig at Gene Haas as he retweeted, “Can’t win in F1 using a NASCAR budget. Hell, can’t even win in NASCAR with a NASCAR budget…”

Stewart-Haas Racing has been considered a powerhouse in NASCAR for the past decade. However, its performances haven’t befitted its stature either. After a winless 2023 with Kevin Harvick exiting early in the playoffs, the rocky boat demands some stability. In the past few weeks, if the team’s social media handle’s posts suggest anything, it is that the team is ready to embrace the change without changing its core values.

Lamenting Gene Haas for not being able to justify SHR’s poor run, another fan wrote, “Is this his reasoning with NASCAR too?”

With Tony Stewart placing his trust in SHR’s young blood, it remains to be seen how 2024 unfolds. While a former Cup champion in Kevin Harvick will be missed, the addition of Josh Berry and Noah Gragson’s hunger for success could pay dividends.

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