"I think he could have been a world champion": Guenther Steiner feels $10,000,000-worth F1 superstar could have won the title in the right car

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner claimed that his former charge Nico Hulkenberg could have been a world champion if he had made the right decisions in his career. Ever since returning to the sport in 2023 with the American team, Hulkenberg has taken the team leader position away from Kevin Magnussen, having outperformed him in their two-year period as teammates.

In the 2024 season, the German has scored 22 of Haas's 27 points, securing back-to-back P6 finishes at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, ahead of a Ferrari and both the Aston Martins on both instances.

While appearing on "The Red Flags Podcast", Guenther Steiner spoke about the $10 million-worth Nico Hulkenberg's talent behind the wheel but pointed out the biggest flaw in his racing career that has limited him:

“I wanted to get him in the car, and at the last minute, he pulled out and stayed at Force India. We had a second talk a few years later to come to Haas. And he again went to Renault. I always respected him because, for me, he is one of these guys who did it to himself to [be in] the wrong place,” Steiner said. [at 38:00]

“He always made the wrong decision. If he would have been a little lucky and been in a good car when he was younger, I think he could have been a world champion"

Guenther Steiner also stated that he wasn't impressed with Kevin Magnussen's performances against Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas F1 team this year.

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Guenther Steiner chimes in on Kevin Magnussen's 2024 season thus far

While appearing at a recent promotional event for Buffalo Trace bourbon, Steiner spoke about the Danish driver and his chances of retaining his seat at Haas post-2024. He told reporters (via The Print):

“I love Kevin… (but) what he is doing lately against Hulkenberg is not impressive, to say the least. We need to be open about that… either Hulkenberg is so good that we don’t know about it or Kevin is just in the moment not where he needs to be to have a seat in F1. There is this time when you need to realize."

“We have got Checo, Dani, Kevin and Bottas. Bottas is difficult to say something about because the car is not really good so we don’t really know where he is. But there is quite a lot of these guys and the people which give them a seat need to think about this, is this the best for the team?”

There have been reports claiming that Magnussen could be replaced by Esteban Ocon for the second seat at Haas with the team having already signed Ferrari junior driver Ollie Bearman for the 2025 season. The Dane has himself spoken about his interest in Endurance Racing as a potential destination if he fails to get a team in F1.