CBS plans TV comedy show with Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner

According to a report on leading Hollywood website Deadline, CBS is in the ‘early stages of developing a single-camera workplace comedy’ with Steiner, who will be a non-writing executive producer of the show.

The fictional series will be set in the world of sports, with the central character being a ‘Steiner-esque’ boss at the head of the team.

Steiner became a household name when Netflix’s F1 docuseries Drive To Survive first aired in 2019, and his no-nonsense approach was magnified by its fly-on-the-wall footage.

His colourful use of language while being mic-ed up for the show has made him a huge fan favourite, with many of his (often swear-laden) phrases subsequently appearing on T-shirts.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

A fan of Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team, with a teeshirt

In an interview with The Independent earlier this year, Steiner said of his TV fame: “I’m not good at acting, I just do my job and if they film it all that’s fine. It’s all very transparent.

“We sometimes make a meal of things but very rarely. It’s real. I think people like the honesty too.”

CBS is one of the biggest network broadcast players in the United States and has produced world-renowned comedy shows including M*A*S*H, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Big Bang Theory.

Italian-American Steiner began his motorsport career as a rally mechanic before taking management roles with the Top Run, Jolly Club and Prodrive’s customer team Allstar before becoming the director of engineering for Ford’s World Rally Team in the WRC.

His shortlived first role in F1 was as managing director of Jaguar Racing in 2001. Following a stint with Opel in the DTM, he joined Red Bull Racing in 2005, briefly acting as its technical operations director.

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Juan Pablo Montoya and Red Bull VP of competition Gunther Steiner

He left the F1 squad to spearhead its NASCAR operation, and he later founded a composites business when the energy drinks giant withdrew from stock car racing. In the intervening years, he drew up plans for an American F1 team and persuaded CNC tool manufacturing guru Gene Haas to fund the project.

Steiner has led the Haas F1 Team since it was formed in 2014 and joined the F1 circuit in the 2016 season. Under his stewardship, it has formed technical alliances with Ferrari and Dallara, and the team’s form peaked with fifth in the constructors’ championship in 2018.

When asked by Motorsport.com about his passion for being the boss of an F1 team, Steiner said: “This is not a job. If you do it for the money, there are a lot of jobs which pay you more that you don’t have to work as hard at.

“So it needs to be a passion, you need to be interested and really like it otherwise there’s no point, you’d come here and be leaving in a few years.”