As we wrap up our Zoom call, ex-F1 team boss Guenther Steiner has an unusual request.
"Now, I have got a question," Steiner says. Not exactly a regular occurrence on a media call like this but not too out of the ordinary. What was the question?
"How do you pronounce your name?"
Upon hearing that it is pronounced like "Owen," Italian F1 guru Steiner chuckles, "I didn't address you by name because I would have got it completely wrong. I have got exactly the same problem. I've been called some strange things."
Steiner will have to get used to Irish pronunciations over the next month, as he prepares for a live show in Dublin's Convention Centre on the 11th of May. It is one of 42 theatre dates on Steiner's tour across Ireland, the UK, and the Isle of Man, a testament to how popular he remains.
The ex-Haas F1 team principal shot to icon status when the sport's popularity exploded in the post-Drive to Survive era around 2020.
Alongside Daniel Ricciardo, Steiner was effectively the face of the series, thanks to his ruthless, foul-mouthed, hilarious antics in front of the Netflix cameras.
In an exclusive interview with Balls.ie, Steiner explains that being propelled to stardom in such a manner was certainly unexpected.
The first year, nobody had any idea what it would end up being anyway. I just went along with my life as I did before. The only extra effort I put in was when you had to do the sit-down interviews.
It was strange. It’s funny, when you ask how I found it. I didn’t do it intentionally. It was one of those things…I didn’t put any effort into it, it just happened.
I only realised when my daughter started to send me the memes and all that stuff from the socials.
Despite being one of Drive to Survive's biggest stars, Guenther Steiner revealed to us that he has never, in fact, watched the massively popular Netflix series.
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Guenther Steiner reveals why he did not watch F1 Drive to Survive
Many of Drive to Survive's most iconic moments surround Steiner cursing the bad luck of his Haas team as they sought to establish themselves as a powerful force in F1's midfield.
The language used by Steiner could certainly be described as colourful, leading me to wonder where the show's producers drew the line.
"I refused to watch it!" 👀
F1 icon Guenther Steiner revealed to us that he has never watched Drive to Survive, despite being one of the biggest stars 😮#F1 #Haas #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/uJBcWRP0IA
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 3, 2025
When I asked whether anything more explicit had had to be cut, Steiner revealed he has never actually watched the show of which he is such a central figure.
"I always had my head of communications Stuart Morrison watching it because I never watched it," Steiner said, "I refused to watch it.
"Stuart was the head of communications at Haas F1…I asked him to watch it for me. I don’t know if he had to take some stuff out or not. I said, ‘Stuart, you know what you can put in and what you cannot put in. It’s your decision. I don’t want to know about it.’"
When pushed further, Steiner explained his reasoning for skipping out on Drive to Survive. The 59-year-old said that he had wanted to avoid arguments with his family over whether his crucial decisions as Haas F1 boss had been correct.
"They watched it but they know that I didn’t watch it," Steiner explained.
"Whatever they tell me, I don’t know what they’re talking about! That’s maybe intentional because I don’t want the debate with my family on what I say and do! They know me very well, they know my intentions.
"But it’s one of the reasons I didn’t watch it, I don’t want the debate, ‘Was this good or was this bad?’ I did it, it’s too late to change now anyway, everybody has seen it. Why would I change it, why would I even put thought into it?"
Steiner departed as Haas team boss early last year, replaced as team principal by Ayao Komatsu.
When Haas entered F1 in 2016, Steiner was a driving force in getting the project off the ground, and led the team throughout its first nine seasons in the sport. Despite this, he says he now views the team as he would any of the other ten on the grid.
I just see it as one of the ten teams. It’s pretty quick that you get an emotional distance from it. It ended. I worked there, I set it up, I’m proud that I worked there, of course I still know quite a lot of people.
But it’s one of those things, I don’t see it any different than any other team. Especially if you do TV work, you have to be fair to people, not having any emotions about it. That’s what you need to try to do. That’s what I do.
Steiner had previously worked as part of Jaguar F1 and Red Bull in his early years in Formula 1.
However, he has yet to return to a team role in the paddock since leaving Haas. He tells us he could be convinced to do so in future, should the opportunity be right, but he is in no rush to do so.
He has worked as a TV pundit for Australian, French, and German TV stations in the year since he exited F1 and fans can expect to see him at several races for the rest of the year.
Irish fans can also see him in the flesh when he comes to the Convention Centre next month, with Guenther telling us he has been to Dublin on several occasions and counts many Irish people as friends.
Touchingly, he also extended a tribute to the late Eddie Jordan.
"Everyone knows EJ, what he did in his life, his character, his personality. I think he represented Ireland very well in the world, even if he moved away from it," Steiner said.
"He stayed close to his roots even if he didn’t live there.
"He gave a lot of people a chance into F1...a lot of people are still there who started off with EJ. I think he was one of those guys who made a lot of things happen in this world.
"I got to know him a little bit better in the last years when he came to races, when he did TV work and stuff like this. I had a very good relationship with him, it was always fun when you’d run into Eddie. It was always good to have a chat because it was never boring!
"How could you not have fun with Eddie?"
Guenther Steiner's live show 'Unfiltered' takes to the Convention Centre stage on May 11th, with tickets on sale here.
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