Former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner eying MotoGP team CEO role, confirms investment talks
Steiner was axed as Haas team boss at the end of 2023, eight years after its F1 debut in the 2016 season. Following his exit, he began working extensively as a television pundit in the sport. The Italian-American has also released a second book about his time working in F1 and is the co-owner of a North Carolina-based composites company.
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'I'm unemployed but very busy,' he told The Athletic in an exclusive interview.
Reports in recent weeks have linked Steiner with investment in what is a new area of motorsport for the 60-year-old: the Tech3 team in MotoGP. The squad has raced in top-level motorcycle racing since 2001 — mostly as a customer Yamaha squad, before partnering with Austrian manufacturer KTM in 2019.
KTM is currently in the midst of a severe financial crisis, which has left its participation in MotoGP beyond the current bike design rules era that ends in 2026 in doubt. This has led Tech3 to seek outside investment. Current team owner Herve Poncharal recently confirmed talks with Steiner during an interview with the championship's host broadcast at the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix won by Marc Márquez. Poncharal suggested discussion areas have included a potential full sale of the squad.
'(Steiner is) a very straightforward person and I think a very nice person to eventually work with,' Poncharal said, via TNT. 'So, right now I am listening to the proposal. It could be to come as a shareholder, as a partner, but it could also be to buy the whole team.'
Steiner confirmed the discussions to The Athletic but also insisted a deal was some way off being struck.
'I've looked into it, I speak with quite a few people,' Steiner said. 'I don't want to deny it. I mean, I would be stupid to deny it, but no, it's not done. But I'm working (on it). I always work on projects my whole life and (find) things to do. So, that is one of them because I find (MotoGP) very interesting. Also, a sport which has got a lot of potential to grow because the sport is fabulous — the racing is pretty cool!
'What these guys are doing is bonkers. And I just saw an opportunity. I know a lot of people there and started to work on it. But if it comes to fruition or not, or when, I don't know.'
Steiner said his interest in MotoGP stems from feeling 'the sport is undervalued at the moment', but insisted he believes in its potential with or without F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media acquiring MotoGP as well. That $4.2billion deal was announced back in April 2024, but was subsequently scrutinised by the European Union's antitrust authority, the European Commission.
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Reuters reported in April that approval for the Liberty takeover of MotoGP promoter Dorna will, however, be forthcoming. Liberty Media acquired F1's commercial rights ahead of the 2017 season and embarked on a series of initiatives aimed at growing its reach.
'I think (MotoGP) has got a lot of potential to grow as a sport — a little bit like F1 did,' Steiner said. 'There is a lot of potential there to attract more fans because it's such a good sport.
'I think the sport will grow anyway, with or without Liberty, to be honest. So, I believe in it with or without Liberty. Obviously, Liberty, what they did with F1 is fantastic. And I think they could help make MotoGP bigger for sure.'
A MotoGP move would take Steiner into another area of motorsport after his stints as a mechanic and senior engineer in the World Rally Championship with Mazda, Prodrive and Ford, and as managing director at Jaguar in F1 before becoming technical director in the early days after that team's transformation into the current Red Bull squad in 2005. Most famously, he worked as Haas' first F1 team boss. His position at the American squad gained worldwide fame due to his high-profile participation in the Netflix series 'Drive to Survive' — a key Liberty-approved project aimed at swelling F1's fanbase. It is generally considered to have been a big success for F1.
But when asked if his mooted MotoGP move would involve him resuming team principal duties in a new field or if he was keen to be more of a silent partner this time around having been so heavily involved in Haas' formation, Steiner replied: 'I don't yet know my position, but I cannot stay silent.
'You know me, I cannot be silent! I cannot be completely silent, but maybe I wouldn't do the day-to-day work. Maybe I would be more strategic, like a CEO or something like this. But I've got too many things going on in my life to do this as 100 percent. So, I will put a lot of effort in because I like it. I cannot, if I'm invested in something, just take the back seat.
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'I always have opinions and I think there is also my value — I see a lot of things, I've done a lot of things. I'm very old now, by the way, so don't forget that. When you get older, you've got experience and need to try to use it.
'I've never worked in MotoGP. My experience is watching it and speaking with people. Therefore, I say again there's people which know more about the day-to-day MotoGP than me. And I respect that.'
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