Haas is het nieuwste F1 team en met hun kleinere budget worden ze vaak gezien als de underdog. Maar wie houdt er nou niet van een underdog? Na Surviving to drive ga je nog meer rooten voor het team van Haas – ik vond het al leuk als ze een goede race reden, maar nu helemaal. Vooral de passage waarin Steiner vertelt over de eerste pole van het team – door Kevin Magnussen in Brazilië. Ondanks dat het ook een deel geluk was, is het ook vele jaren van hard werk geweest. Dit begrijp je beter na het lezen van Steiners visie, en ik kreeg nogmaals zin om te juichen voor deze prestatie. Steiner intersperses some of the more humdrum days at grands prix with tales from his rallying years—his experience of a Dakar Rally disaster is extraordinary—his bafflement at the fame that his Haas role and DTS popularity has brought, as well as how he balances family life with 10 months of the year on the road. Steiner could probably write another book alone with just stories from his disastrous time at Jaguar alongside the late Niki Lauda, who emerges as one of Steiner’s biggest inspirations. Guenther Steiner is one of motor racing's biggest and most celebrated characters, known to millions for his show-stealing appearances on Netflix's hugely popular fly on the wall series, Drive to Survive . Steiner should also be praised for his honesty and truly does ‘tell it how it is’, as much as his current role allows. He is certainly not one to hide his emotions. A poor race weekend is met with a diary entry filled with foks and s**ts while a good race is filled with the same expletives but with a different meaning. Fans of the series will love this canter through an eventful season which brings them closer to the characters they see on TV. Even those who have never watched the show (like Steiner himself, or so he claims) will warm to the engaging boss of Haas. JD

It’s the hard work of everyone on our team that has returned us to the fight in Formula 1 and I can’t thank everyone who’s a part of Haas F1 Team enough for their efforts and dedication. Guenther Steiner is one of motor racing's biggest and most celebrated characters, known to millions for his show-stealing appearances on Netflix's hugely popular fly on the wall series, Drive to Survive. Weaved in among Haas’s exploits are moments from Steiner’s life, such as how he got into motorsport in the first place, through rallying, before joining three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda at the Jaguar F1 team, plus his time in America before convincing Gene Haas to set up an F1 operation. There are some wonderful stories, from his experiences in the 1992 Dakar Rally, to he and Lauda being driven to a hotel in Japan by a man who “had an Olympic medal in foking about”. It’s clear from the outset who this book is aimed at: those fans of F1 who came to the sport via the smash-hit Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive. The clue is in the name, but also in the author. The term “foking”, used frequently throughout, seems to have been partially invented as a result of the infamous “he does not fok smash my door” line from the Netflix series that has adorned many a T-shirt, but also as a way to avoid an uncomfortable question from the publisher as to why there was over 100 swear words within the book. For those afraid Steiner’s voice had been watered down though, fear not as there are plenty of s**ts to make up for it.Guenther Steiner has been the unlikely breakout star of the show and this book aims to cement his celebrity via a diary-style romp through the 2022 season. But Steiner was on the right side of history and clearly grasped the issues surrounding his Russian driver Nikita Mazepin and his team’s title sponsor Uralkali immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Describing the decision to drop the main sponsor he says: “There was no debate. It had to happen for the good of Haas and the good of the sport.” Later he adds wryly: “Only Haas could have a Russian driver and a Russian sponsor at the start of a Russian war.” Written in Steiner’s voice the stylized ‘fok’ and ‘jeezos’ can become a little grating through the course of the year, but conversely it does add to the individualistic aura of the book and remind you this is Steiner and no one else. If there is one adjective that sums up Guenther Steiner’s new autobiography entitled ‘Surviving to Drive’, it is straight-talking. While a suite of new regulations, which Haas sacrificed their 2021 season to prepare for, should have been their big focus, instead Steiner and co. were forced to navigate the fallout of a European nation invading its closest neighbour.

Steiner emerges as not just Haas’ team principal but its public face, a motivator to its personnel, and effectively one of its co-founders given how he lobbied Gene Haas in the early 2010s to enter Formula 1. Their early encounters are relayed, including how Steiner was awoken at 2 a.m. to give a 90-minute presentation to then F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone about why Haas should be allowed into the sport. Steiner lives all of Haas’ highs and lows, and is desperate to see the team succeed. “It’s the last thing I think about before going to sleep and the first when I wake: (His wife) Gertie, (daughter) Greta, and two hundred employees scattered over the world,” he writes. His honesty is refreshing given that almost all who work in F1 are generally subjected to toeing a PR line – but not Steiner. And although happy to criticise others, he’s certainly not above berating himself or being the butt of a joke. People talk about football managers being under pressure. Trust me, that's nothing. Pressure is watching one of your drivers hit a barrier at 190mph and exploding before your eyes...' A hugely entertaining access-all-areas account of a year inside Formula 1, from Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner, star of Drive to Survive, one of the most successful Netflix series of all time.In Surviving to Drive , the Haas team principal takes readers inside his Formula 1 team for the entirety of the 2022 season, giving an unobstructed view of what really takes place behind the scenes. Through this unique lens, Guenther takes us on the thrilling rollercoaster of life at the heart of high stakes motor racing.

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably watched Drive to Survive on Netflix and found Günther Steiner somewhat amusing. When it wasn't race week, he sometimes talked about his past in rally. I really couldn't care less. There was too much rally talk! One cannot deny that Steiner is unapologetically himself in this book. He writes what he thinks, as controversial as things may be. And he uses the typical Steiner tone - he used the word "fok" 280 times! Weaved in among Haas's exploits are moments from Steiner's life, such as how he got into motorsport in the first place, through rallying, before joining three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda at the Jaguar F1 team, plus his time in America before convincing Gene Haas to set up an F1 operation. There are some wonderful stories, from his experiences in the 1992 Dakar Rally, to he and Lauda being driven to a hotel in Japan by a man who "had an Olympic medal in foking about". In Surviving to Drive, the Haas team principal takes readers inside his Formula 1 team for the entirety of the 2022 season, giving an unobstructed view of what really takes place behind the scenes. Through this unique lens, Guenther takes us on the thrilling rollercoaster of life at the heart of high stakes motor racing.As a positiv I really enjoyed the "side/ stories from the past". They gave an interesting insight into how you become an TP and how to work your way up the motorsport ladder.