Steiner honest: 'I don't get high-fives from Gene Haas on Sunday'

Although Guenther Steiner and his teammates at Haas knew the 2021 season wouldn't be a dazzling one, keeping the team's motivation high is more difficult than expected. In a new interview the team boss admits to not getting any high-fives from owner Gene Haas, but still sees the 2022 season as a bright spot on the horizon.

"Gene Haas is not high-fiving me on Sundays", is how Steiner sums up the first half of 2021 in conversation with Autosport.com. "However, this is how we decided to do it."

The team boss continued: "I wouldn't even call it a bad year because it isn't a bad year if you know what to expect. Obviously finishing where we are finishing is tough every weekend, you know, I'm not sugarcoating that one."

Improvement beckons on the horizon

Still, Steiner knows that the long-term investment will hopefully pay off starting in 2022. With this knowledge, he, therefore, tries to keep up the courage of his rookie drivers. Steiner: "Knowing that hopefully, it will be better next year, that is what keeps everybody going in the team. Yes, on a Saturday and Sunday night they are not happy, but they know it will end and they keep their heads up."