Earlier this week, Haas confirmed that Steiner – who had led the operation since their F1 debut back in 2016 – was leaving his role on the brink of the 2024 season, with the team’s Director of Engineering, Ayao Komatsu, stepping up to replace him.

On Saturday, Steiner made an appearance at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham, UK and offered his initial thoughts on the reshuffle – the popular Italian and Drive To Survive star receiving a warm reception from the gathered crowd.

“Can I start with just something from my side?” Steiner began as he settled into a conversation with Sky Sports F1’s David Croft. “I didn’t have the chance to say thank you to a few people when I left Haas F1. I would just like to thank all the team members which I couldn’t give a proper goodbye [to] when I left.

“I want to say also thank you to all the fans who supported Haas while I was there – it’s fantastic. It’s one of those occasions, with so many people here. Thanks for coming as well, [for me] to say thank you to everybody for the support I got and I’m getting.

“It stung [not being able to say goodbye to the team], but they all know me and that I still appreciate what they did. It would be nice to say, ‘Hey guys, thanks for all that you did’, because the team started very small, running on adrenaline a lot of times, and they did a good job. Obviously it doesn’t make you happy not saying thank you, but I think I did it now.”

Source: Formula1.com