He helped Schumacher make his debut
Formula 1 cult figure Steiner becomes an RTL expert
February 23, 2024, 9:31 a.m
As the former team boss of the Haas racing team for many years, Günther Steiner is an absolute Formula 1 insider. He is also popular for the series “Drive to Survive”, in which he doesn’t mince his words. That’s exactly how he wants to approach his new job: as a TV expert at RTL.
Günther Steiner returns to Formula 1: The long-time team boss of the Haas racing team becomes a TV expert on RTL. At the side of presenter Florian König, the man who was right in the middle of the action in the premier motorsport class until January will analyze the racing events for RTL for the first time at the season opener on March 1st and 2nd in Bahrain.
Steiner says of his commitment: “Formula 1 is competition at the highest level, on the racetrack and in the paddock. How should the drivers’ performances be evaluated and what does that mean for the organizations behind them? I’m looking forward to working with this strong team On-air team to examine these processes and share my analysis of the racing events. The fans can expect me to express my opinions clearly, just as they are used to from me.”
“A real character”
Inga Leschek, managing director of programming at RTL and RTL+, says: “With Günther Steiner, we have succeeded in getting a long-standing manager and Formula 1 insider directly from the paddock in front of the RTL microphones, who will provide our live broadcasts with current news insights and plain text.” She also emphasizes his fame beyond the racing series: “In addition, he is a real character who is extremely popular among many Formula 1 fans thanks to his performance in ‘Drive to Survive’, among other things.”
With the Netflix series, Formula 1 has opened up completely new target groups. Steiner is one of the most popular stars – because he rarely minces his words. “We saw this effect from Günther when we met for the first time and we went out to dinner,” said Alex Holmes, boss of Haas title sponsor Moneygram: “People came to the table in the middle of the meal and wanted a photo do with him.” With “Surviving to Drive”, Steiner himself wrote a best-selling book about Formula 1.
The 58-year-old was the Haas team boss from 2010 to the beginning of 2024, and under him Mick Schumacher was brought into the premier class in 2021. He previously held senior positions at the Red Bull and Jaguar F1 teams.
As part of a partnership with Sky Deutschland, RTL secured, among other things, the rights to seven F1 races and twelve live qualifyings/sprints from the 2024 season exclusively for free TV. On all other race weekends, RTL+ presents the qualifying or the sprint in a live stream. All races can still be seen on Sky. To mark the start of the season, NITRO (March 2, 11:55 a.m.) and ntv (March 9, 11:30 p.m.) are once again showing the documentary “SCHUMACHER” about the incomparable career of racing legend Michael Schumacher.