It’s too early for Guenther Steiner to swear by Formula E. But he at least got to soak in his first race at Homestead earlier this month as a special guest of the series.
The former Jaguar, Red Bull and Haas team leader is more likely to be found in provincial town halls across the world this year than the pitlane as he tours his one-man band of racing anecdotes and sweary rhetoric to a new generation of fans after his starring roles in the Drive to Survive phenomene.
But that doesn’t mean he neglects his racing instincts and takes an interest in the racing scene as he did in Florida.
“It’s the first race for me and I need to find my way because I haven’t seen a lot,” Steiner told Formula E Notebook.
“I’ve seen maybe 10 minutes so far and they look fast. I’m quite impressed by how fast they are, obviously we know the acceleration is beautiful from these cars.
“Otherwise, I think the event is well organised. It’s a nice job they’re doing but I just need to take more in.”
The Drive to Survive series helped Steiner cross-over from hard-nut racing executive to amusingly direct documentary doyen, but the Italian doesn’t believe there will be a direct descendent for Formula E, despite an upcoming series on the all-electric world championship scheduled to begin early next month on a major streaming platform.
“I think it’s difficult to replicate,” says Steiner.
“It would be more like, more of the same. I think in Formula One, it was a very, very well done series. It was at the right time. So, I don’t think you can replicate it.
“Obviously, informing people what is happening always helps and for sure, Formula E, I don’t know what they are doing, but they for sure learned out of what happened in Formula One, with Drive to Survive, and they tried to do something, but to replicate it as a one to one to one, I don’t think that will work.”
