F1 team boss passes on Verstappen: 'Even with Max we wouldn't win'

Can a great driver win in an inferior car? That is a frequently asked question in the Formula 1 world.

Max Verstappen had a strong Red Bull car at his disposal in 2023, but would the Dutchman have been on the podium at all once if he had to drive a Haas?

The American team's team boss, Guenther Steiner, doesn't think so and wouldn't even take on the Dutchman if he could make a free transfer to the team.

“I would choose Adrian Newey because I'm sure he can build a winning car,” Steiner told The Athletic.

"Even if you put Verstappen in our car, we wouldn't win. I think Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen can win races if we had a Red Bull."

Steiner once worked for Red Bull

Prior to their takeover of the Jaguar F1 team in 2004, Steiner worked for them in their technical operations. Following a management shakeup in 2002, he was put on gardening leave.

In February 2005 he joined Red Bull Racing as a technical operations director, managing a group of 350 people with a budget in excess of $200 million.

Once the Red Bull F1 project started moving in a positive direction, Steiner was shifted to their NASCAR Cup Series team in North Carolina. It's a period he proudly looks back on, despite the fact that the NASCAR team no longer exists.

"We did it to add a lot of technology and engineers to the sport. A number of people recognized that after I left. You don't have to get any credits. I think we did a lot of what is now normal in the NASCAR."

Steiner eventually left Red Bull permanently in 2008: "We disagreed on the future. I had a plan, but they disagreed with that. That's why we separated, it's that simple."