"I would have f**ked the whole paddock": When Guenther Steiner hilariously revealed the desperate situation that Haas was facing in F1

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner had previously expressed his delight with the team's results in early 2022 by making a hilarious remark. The Italian-American was the team boss of the only American team on the grid from 2016 to 2023 before he left the role to take up punditry last year.

Under his leadership, they finished P5 in the Constructors'' Championship in 2018 but had largely struggled for the rest of the years. However, the team made a quick start to the new regulations in the 2022 season and scored a bunch of points, especially in the hands of Kevin Magnussen.

Haas had gone pointless in the 2021 season when they hired two rookies - Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher. However, during the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP, when Magnussen finished P9 to bring home two points, Guenther Steiner was picked by Netflix's 'Drive to Survive' cameras dropping a hilarious reaction in his interview with Chris Medland, saying:

“Last year, for two points, I would have f**ked the whole paddock. It’s a good place to be." (0:02)

When Steiner was called out for his language, he was surprised by the reaction. When asked about what he previously said, the 59-year-old hilariously retracted and said:

"Hugged them."

Guenther Steiner vacated his role as the team principal and was replaced by Ayao Komatsu as the former became a pundit in the 2024 season.

Guenther Steiner gives his honest opinion on the F1 media

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner described some of his colleagues in the F1 media as "idiotic" when he was the team boss.

Speaking with PlanetF1, the 59-year-old opened up about his experience of being a first-time pundit and analyzing the races from the media lens. He said:

“For me, I realized, you need to ask tough questions, but I think a lot is how you ask them. You can ask a question, as long as you don’t make a statement. Give me your story because that is what I always expected from the press. When they asked me, don’t tell me.

“There’s some journalists which I couldn’t stand, who told me what they thought and I just had to say ‘yes or no’. Some of your colleagues [in the media] are pretty idiotic. I didn’t like that, so I try not to be that guy."

He further added:

"But sometimes it’s a little bit [difficult] because somebody’s a friend and you’re putting a guy on German national TV, and you ask something, they just messed up the qualifying, and ask him about the messed up qualifying. But it’s part of the job and if you ask it respectfully, why not?”

Guenther Steiner will return to his punditry duties in the 2025 season and revealed that he will be in "12 races" next year.