Haas F1 boss Steiner plays it by the book

LONDON : Haas boss Guenther Steiner has famously not watched the Netflix 'Drive to Survive' docu-series that made him a cult hero for a new wave of Formula One fans, but he has read every word of 'Surviving to Drive'.

The ghost-written book, published in Britain on Thursday and with a foreword by Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali, records Steiner's 2022 season in typically unfiltered fashion.

One particular profanity appears 351 times in the 280 pages, according to a reviewer who bothered to count, and Steiner has delivered it all in the accent of a man born in German-speaking northern Italy and now resident in North Carolina.

"I did the audio book so I have proof that I read it," the 58-year-old told Reuters, while admitting his focus had been more on keeping the sound engineer happy than the actual contents.

'Drive to Survive', now filming its sixth season and credited with turbo-charging the sport's popularity, transformed Steiner from relative paddock obscurity to show-stealing phenomenon.

T-shirts adorned with his face and familiar catchphrases have sold briskly, with the boss often ambushed by fans seeking selfies - to the occasional embarrassment of his teenage daughter.

A parody Twitter account @BanterSteiner has 184,000 followers.

HAPPY STEINER

"It still puts a smile on my face because it wasn’t by design. I didn’t try to do this. It just happened. If they feel happy, I’m happy for them," said Steiner.

"If they like it, what I do, it means that I entertain them and they love it because they spend money to put my face on their chests. When I see it, it still amazes me."

Steiner said the focus on smaller teams like U.S.-owned Haas, who finished eighth in 2022 and now have Dallas-based MoneyGram as title