Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari “almost sometimes a conflict” says Guenther Steiner

Guenther Steiner has discussed Lewis Hamilton’s influence both in and out of Formula 1, claiming that the seven-time champion is “the only driver above a team”.

The former Haas team chief discussed whether the rise of drivers turning into celebrities has turned into an issue for the championship or if it can be used to build up and develop the presence of the series during an appearance on the Business of Sport podcast.

“It’s a combination, and again, we have got the perfect example here,” Steiner explained. “In Formula 1, the only one above a team is Lewis Hamilton. What do you call his presence, his stature – it’s very big outside of the sport as well. You’re big in the sport, but then when you get big outside of the sport, you’re bigger than the actual team.

“It’s the same in football. It happens. So in Formula 1, the only one who can claim that one is Lewis, at the moment. Max is very big in the sport, but he doesn’t work on being somebody outside of the sport because for him, his life is racing cars. While Lewis has got another thing as well, what he wants to achieve in life.

“And we see it now with Lewis and Ferrari. They are two huge brands together, and it’s almost sometimes a conflict. Who is bigger, Ferrari or Lewis?”

The British driver joined Ferrari for the 2025 season after a 12-year stint with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world championship titles. The impact of Hamilton’s signing with the Maranello outfit was seen instantly as Ferrari’s share price rose by over 10% as the news broke.

“No. Because I don’t think Ferrari needs that,” Steiner responded when asked if he would have signed Hamilton to Ferrari for the ‘Lewis factor’. “That’s my opinion. And again, I’m not running Ferrari as a corporate. It’s a cool story, to be honest. A seven-time world champion going to Ferrari. Ferrari was doing good, but I think we put the expectations so high. So now we got a little bit – the expectations were not fulfilled. We are a little bit, ‘Oh, this doesn’t work,’ and now we’re depressed about it.”

Guenther Steiner, Miami Grand Prix Ambassador

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The Italian continued to discuss the changes seen following Liberty Media’s acquisition and the popularity of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.

“It helped finding sponsors because before, as a small team, nobody knows about you. Nobody wants to speak with you. Now with Drive to Survive getting this publicity, people wanted to be associated with you. And it helped Formula 1 to start off with Drive to Survive, but also it helped all the teams, not only the big ones.”

Steiner very quickly became a fan favourite on the docuseries, which was something that he did not expect.

“It was one of these things again, because in the end, I didn’t do anything for it. That’s the weird thing. It’s not like that you say, ‘Oh, I go into this project, I need to do this, that.’

“You go there, they put a mic on, and you do your job. And then one day you wake up and people know you. It’s like, ‘I haven’t contributed to this one.’ I have, but not intentionally. I didn’t learn a script or anything. I just did my job.”