World Champion reacts to Steiner exit: 'A huge loss for F1'

1996 Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill has stated that GuentherSteiner's departure from the Haas squad is a “huge loss” for thesport. Haas announced on Wednesday that Steiner would not continuein his Team Principal role for the upcoming campaign. Steiner hasbeen at the helm of the Kannapolis-based outfit since it joined thegrid in 2016. However, a number of difficult years, including twobottom-of-the-standings finishes in three years, resulted in GeneHaas making a change at the helm of the team. Steiner had gained inpopularity over the last handful of seasons and became a favouriteamong fans, largely owing to being outspoken on Netflix's Drive ToSurvive docu-series. “Guenther became a bit of a celebrity thanksto the famous Netflix series and the behind-the-scenes filming ofhim,” Hill told Sky Sports . “He’s a huge character, very decisive,very confident and sure of what he’s saying. Maybe that’s part ofthe mix. “He wants to win, I don’t know the real reason behind thedeparture but it’s a big loss to the sport because fans liked him,he attracted people, he was outspoken but maybe didn’t get theresults that Gene Haas [team owner] wanted. 'He was getting a lotof attention' Late last year, it was reported by entertainmentoutlet Deadline that Steiner was set to be the focus of a CBScomedy show. The news followed the launch of Steiner's book,Surviving To Drive which accounted a year inside the Haas F1 teamfrom the Italian's perspective. Hill has suggested that Steiner'sprojects outside of his duties as Team Principal became too muchfor Gene Haas. “Guenther was actually one of the masterminds ofputting the whole thing together, Gene was really the investor,”Hill stated. “You could say it was his team, but he didn’t own it.He was getting a lot of attention, [that were potential]distractions. “They were talking about this TV series they wereplanning and perhaps that was too much for some people. “As a TeamPrincipal, your primary job and focus has to be on what you do. Butit wasn’t his fault that he was popular and he became a celebrity.”