F1 News: Guenther Steiner Reveals Latest Venture After Shock Haas Exit
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is set to release his second Formula 1 book following the notable success of his first publication in 2023. The announcement comes amid the recent news of his departure from the American team.
Key Takeaways:
- Successful First Book: Guenther Steiner's initial book, "Surviving to Drive," co-written with James Hogg, details the inside story of Haas's 2022 season and various aspects of Steiner's career. The book sold 150,000 copies and was translated into 12 languages.
- New Project Underway: Steiner and Hogg were already collaborating on a second book when Steiner was ousted by Gene Haas. This development offers a new angle for the book, as hinted by Steiner: “We are working on the second book at the moment...Now, obviously, the story maybe changes a little bit!”
- Steiner's Involvement: Despite criticisms, Steiner denies that his book and TV appearances distracted him from his duties at Haas, arguing that the projects brought more benefits and exposure to the team.
Guenther Steiner is diving back into the world of literature with a second Formula 1 book. His first venture, "Surviving to Drive," penned alongside James Hogg, was a substantial hit, delving into the tumultuous 2022 season of the Haas team and exploring episodes from Steiner's extensive career in motorsports. Published by Penguin Random House in the UK, it enjoyed significant commercial success, selling around 150,000 copies and appearing in 12 languages.
The latest project's scope may shift following Steiner's recent headline-making exit from the Haas team, as suggested by Steiner himself in an interview with Motorsport.com:
“We are working on the second book at the moment. That was planned already before. Now, obviously, the story maybe changes a little bit!”
Steiner's foray into authorship was a new and enjoyable experience for him. He appreciated the chance to learn about different industries and enjoyed the organic nature of his collaboration with Hogg. He fondly recalls signing sessions with fans and the positive interactions stemming from his literary work. Steiner described the experience, saying:
"It was a completely new experience. And I learned a lot about how some industries work, how things are done because I was never exposed to this before.
"And I actually enjoyed working with the writer, he is a cool dude, we had good fun. And he had good fun as well. He said hanging out with me was always good fun because it was never the pressure of ‘we need to do this’. It all came very organically.”
Responding to criticisms that his book and TV appearances, notably in the Netflix series "Drive to Survive," might have distracted him from his responsibilities at Haas, Steiner offers a firm rebuttal. He emphasises the minimal disruption caused by these activities, pointing out that his involvement in the book was limited to a couple of short sessions each week, with Hogg handling the bulk of the work. Steiner firmly believes that these endeavours brought more benefits to the team, particularly in terms of sponsorship and exposure. He explains:
"I think people are overrating that, how much distraction that is. Because it isn't actually a lot of distraction from the daily job.
"Obviously on the race weekends, you need to work more. But for example, I didn't have 20 [sponsor] appearances a weekend, I had maybe three maximum. It's not like that is distracting, even writing the book.
"Obviously, a ghostwriter does it for you. Now I've got more time, but even now, we do two sessions a week of half an hour. We do one on Tuesday and one on Friday. That's all I do, he does the rest.
"You speak with him, but it's not like I spent days speaking with him. I know that some people have spent days speaking with these people, but I didn't. I don't think that is a big factor. I think that there were more benefits for the team than anything else about this because they got a lot of sponsors."