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The Motorsport Brief: Australian Grand Prix Preview with Guenther Steiner · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief.
• 0:06
  It's Wednesday the 20th of March 2024.
• 0:08
  This is one of the biggest weeks of the year in Australian motorsport and today is all about a preview with a straight-talking former F1 team boss who is an absolute rock star.
• 0:19
  Music
• 0:21
  G'day everybody, Rusty here.
• 0:22
  Welcome to another edition of the Shortcast.
• 0:24
  We're in Melbourne ahead of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix 2024.
• 0:28
  I don't reckon I've seen so much energy about this city ahead of Sunday's race, round three of this year's 24 race world championship in quite some time.
• 0:38
  There are literally fans waiting outside hotels trying to catch a glimpse of their heroes.
• 0:44
  It's like U2, Bruce Springsteen or even Taylor Swift who's just been here was back in town.
• 0:50
  Now, you might say, well, that's not new, but the kind of fever around it, we haven't felt at this level for quite some time.
• 0:57
  Clearly, the drive to survive effect.
• 1:00
  A quick plug for our latest feature ep, which dropped last week.
• 1:02
  You will find Max Wilson in the Rusty's Garage Library.
• 1:05
  What you might know is that he made it to Formula One, testing for Williams.
• 1:09
  He had a race contract with Minardi, only to have it pulled out from underneath him because money talked.
• 1:15
  And he came and played in supercars for a number of years too.
• 1:18
  We tracked him down at home in Brazil for that one.
• 1:22
  There is some great yarns in there that you won't have heard before, including a nerve-wracking chopper ride and fully sending Jason Barguana in a case of mistaken identity.
• 1:32
  You may also enjoy Dick Bennett's from West Surrey Racing.
• 1:35
  That's another recent addition to the library.
• 1:37
  He worked with Mick Hackenden, the late Ayrton Senna.
• 1:40
  Unbelievable roll call of legends as they climbed the ladder to Formula One.
• 1:44
  Today's guest has been around the sport for many years, more recently as the no-nonsense team boss at Haas.
• 1:50
  There was a kind of surprise parting of the ways recently after a decade with Gene Haas' squad.
• 1:57
  We benefit from that because Gunter Steiner is lending his insights to the broadcast.
• 2:02
  joining Channel 10 this weekend as a part of three big days of coverage, along with former world champion Damon Hill, our colleagues Richard Crail, Tom Clarkson and more.
• 2:12
  A full afternoon of action with practice on Friday from 10am Saturday for Quali, a massive Sunday kicking off at 8.30am.
• 2:20
  That's on 10 and 10 play.
• 2:22
  Netflix legend, a best-selling book, Surviving to Drive.
• 2:26
  Gunter Steiner, welcome to the show.
• 2:28
  Thanks for having me, Rusty.
• 2:30
  It's great to see you again.
• 2:31
  You've just arrived from Adelaide.
• 2:33
  Did you enjoy the Motorsport Festival?
• 2:35
  And you got to sample a bit of V8 power too, didn't you?
• 2:38
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:39
  You know, it was a lot more than I expected, you know.
• 2:43
  I mean, I know it was a good festival, but there was a lot of things there, and it was very interesting.
• 2:48
  They're doing a very good job there, and, you know, I really enjoyed
• 2:51
  I enjoyed the three or four days I was there and I've never been in Adelaide before.
• 2:55
  So it was all new.
• 2:57
  Does the TV stuff excite you?
• 2:59
  I sense it won't change you all that much.
• 3:01
  Do you kind of have to watch the language and things like that?
• 3:04
  Yeah, it excites me to start off with.
• 3:07
  I did Bahrain for RTL and it was something new.
• 3:12
  I did a NASCAR race actually last year as a co-commentator.
• 3:16
  It was something completely new.
• 3:17
  They asked me and I said, yeah, let's do it.
• 3:19
  You know, it's good fun.
• 3:20
  And it was good fun.
• 3:22
  No, but when I'm like this…
• 3:24
  I'm pretty good with the language, you know.
• 3:26
  I have to switch.
• 3:27
  I call it the switch, you know.
• 3:29
  I just switch it off.
• 3:30
  Because otherwise, I would be in too much trouble, I would say.
• 3:33
  Nobody would want to have me on TV.
• 3:35
  I mean, if I do it like I use the language when I go racing.
• 3:39
  Yeah.
• 3:39
  No, it'd be a lot of fun, though.
• 3:40
  We'd have a lot of laughs.
• 3:41
  Can we focus on a bit of a preview of Albert Park, if we can?
• 3:44
  Firstly, a lot of headlines, of course, around Red Bull, Christian Horner, the Verstappens.
• 3:48
  Realistically, could you ever see Max leaving that squad as some have considered or pondered?
• 3:55
  Could you see that happening?
• 3:56
  I think everything is possible in Formula One.
• 3:59
  As we all know, there have been strange things before.
• 4:02
  And now, I mean, like who would have thought that Luis will be leaving Mercedes, you know, without a big announcement or nothing, just from one day to the other, decided he wants to do something different in life.
• 4:15
  and going to Ferrari.
• 4:16
  So, I mean, it's difficult to think about because, I mean, logic tells you, you know, Max is in a very good place, got a very good car, got a very good team.
• 4:26
  Why would he leave?
• 4:27
  But...
• 4:28
  You know, like we told this, the soap opera behind, I don't really know what's going on.
• 4:33
  And I don't need to know, to be honest.
• 4:37
  So let's see what is happening.
• 4:40
  But I think he will be very, very careful to leave Red Bull in the moment because he is in a good place.
• 4:46
  That kind of leads me naturally to...
• 4:48
  I mean, you talked about the drama there a minute ago.
• 4:50
  Does that have any impact on their performance this weekend?
• 4:53
  Based on the opening couple of rounds, it doesn't seem like it will, does it?
• 4:57
  No, I don't think so.
• 4:58
  I said that from the beginning.
• 4:59
  I think that the team is so well-structured, you know.
• 5:02
  They are so good.
• 5:05
  It is obviously... People know about it, but at the level where they operate in racing, I think that people just...
• 5:12
  I would say almost they don't really care what is happening.
• 5:15
  They want to win.
• 5:15
  They've got the machines to win.
• 5:17
  They focus on their job.
• 5:18
  Obviously, in the upper part of the company, there will be a lot of faults going into it, but they are not running the car.
• 5:28
  Thanks God, they are not running the car.
• 5:29
  And therefore, I don't think there will be an impact on the team performance going to the racetrack.
• 5:37
  58 laps of the Albert Park track, the Albert Park Lake.
• 5:41
  Forecast is a little cooler conditions compared to the opening rounds that we saw there in the Middle East temperature wise.
• 5:47
  Does the picking order of the podium contenders beyond Red Bull change?
• 5:52
  I mean, they would love in Melbourne to see Ferrari on the podium.
• 5:56
  Yeah, it could change, but watching the first two races, nobody really struggled with the tires because of the heat.
• 6:04
  So normally when it gets cooler, the tire wear gets better for everybody.
• 6:08
  But if you don't struggle on heat, so nobody...
• 6:11
  I don't think would make a big jump performance-wise because of that.
• 6:15
  So it's just more the truck layout because Bahrain, the Tormac is very special.
• 6:20
  It's very, very rough, you know, a lot of grip, while Saudi Arabia is very high speed, you know.
• 6:25
  So the cars normally tend to, like the Mercedes, I think, underperformed on that kind of truck.
• 6:30
  So the Mercedes could be back a little bit further ahead.
• 6:33
  But...
• 6:34
  I think Ferrari will have back Carlos in the second car.
• 6:37
  So they've got, obviously, Oli Berman did a fantastic job for Ferrari.
• 6:42
  But your first race to get on the podium, that would be a little bit too positive.
• 6:46
  So I think there is a chance that we get a big battle for the podium.
• 6:52
  I'm glad you raised both Carlos and Oli there.
• 6:55
  Firstly, on the Carlos side, and this is probably more a question for him and the good doctors and people around him.
• 7:00
  You know, having him come back from an appendicitis operation like that, is it too soon to do Albert Park or do you think he'll be okay?
• 7:06
  I think if the doctor let him go, he will be okay.
• 7:08
  I mean, they've got the best care.
• 7:10
  They're young guys, you know, and they are very fit.
• 7:12
  So I think if they cannot get away with that, who could?
• 7:16
  And obviously, if it isn't 100% safe, they wouldn't put him in a car.
• 7:20
  So I think he's in a good place, obviously.
• 7:23
  after his operation, you need to watch it.
• 7:25
  But there is enough medical staff around and I'm sure Oliverman is waiting there to get in again.
• 7:32
  He did such a good job, as you said in your column, subbing there for Carlos.
• 7:36
  And I think he went on to talk about the fact that, you know, we really need to get him into a race seat.
• 7:41
  He did a very good job with some practice opportunities with Haas there last year.
• 7:46
  Where could you realistically see him being placed?
• 7:49
  Is there a spot?
• 7:51
  I think next year there is a lot of spots available and there is, I think it's 13 driver contracts up next year.
• 7:59
  And in the end, somebody will put somebody new in and not just move the 13 around as they are.
• 8:06
  Somebody maybe gets pushed out.
• 8:07
  So there is never a better spot.
• 8:09
  I think there has never been a better year to get in a seat than next year because there are so many driver contracts up.
• 8:15
  So I think some of the teams for sure look at him like Haas, like I would say Williams.
• 8:21
  Obviously, he's a Ferrari driver.
• 8:23
  So, you know, it is not as easy as putting him to a car which has got a Mercedes engine.
• 8:28
  But...
• 8:29
  I think sometimes people see beyond that.
• 8:32
  You know, it's just not like... Because people like... Or guys like Oli Biermann, I think they've got a future in Formula 1.
• 8:40
  McLaren, fourth last time out for Oscar Piastri in Saudi Arabia.
• 8:44
  What chance do you give McLaren here in Australia?
• 8:47
  Lots of Aussies listening would love to know.
• 8:49
  I'm sure you guys would love to get him on the podium.
• 8:52
  I mean, but he will be on the podium.
• 8:54
  If it isn't here, he will be on the podium.
• 8:56
  I continue to say...
• 8:57
  He did very well in Formula 3, in Formula 2, you know.
• 9:01
  He did very well last year in the McLaren, beating Landon Norris a few times in his first year, in his rookie year in Formula 1.
• 9:08
  That is all the ingredients to get on the podium, if not bring maybe a championship, if he can be at the right place at the right time, you know.
• 9:16
  So I think he's a talent and everything is possible.
• 9:20
  It's just like sometimes you have to wait a little bit until it happens.
• 9:24
  What observations have you made about your old team in Haas?
• 9:28
  And I guess you can look at it a little differently now.
• 9:31
  You were always very straight with how you thought about performance on a weekend when you were internal there, but you don't have to wear that cap now, Gunther.
• 9:38
  How have they gone in the opening two rounds and what about their chances here?
• 9:42
  I think they've done well with their possibilities.
• 9:47
  I mean, obviously, the car was developed by the same team, which is there now last year.
• 9:53
  I would like to mention Simone Resta, which was the technical director, which left about the same time as me, the team.
• 10:00
  I think they did a good job.
• 10:01
  So the car this year is...
• 10:03
  I think with what is available at us, this is the best it can be.
• 10:08
  I think they did a good job in the last race.
• 10:11
  I mean, what Kevin did to get Nico Hülkenberg into the points, it is allowed by the regulation.
• 10:20
  And I think, to go back to performance, I think a few teams...
• 10:26
  underperformed this year.
• 10:27
  I would say Alpine.
• 10:28
  I mean, it's a works team and obviously they are the slowest car out there, which wasn't expected, which again gives the other teams a possibility to be in front of them if somebody underperforms.
• 10:38
  And that is what happened.
• 10:40
  But I think in general, I mean, Haas is where I would have anticipated to be if I would be still there.
• 10:46
  Gotcha.
• 10:47
  Just when you bring up Alpine there a moment ago, are you surprised by the kind of struggles that they're having rather?
• 10:52
  And can they turn it around like McLaren did last year?
• 10:55
  At the moment, there would be a lot of people that perhaps think that that seems unlikely.
• 11:00
  Yeah, I mean, I'm very surprised that they started the season how they started it because, I mean, they got everything that is needed and the car is just not performing.
• 11:10
  I mean, what McLaren did last year was quite amazing.
• 11:13
  I would say McLaren did an amazing job and, you know, it isn't easy.
• 11:19
  I think that's very difficult to repeat what McLaren did.
• 11:22
  I mean, for sure, they're working flat out to get better.
• 11:25
  But can they make a leap like McLaren did?
• 11:27
  I doubt that one.
• 11:29
  Dan Ricciardo.
• 11:30
  Some are saying he's under pressure.
• 11:32
  Others say there's a bit more detail in what he's doing on track at the moment.
• 11:36
  That perhaps paints a different picture.
• 11:38
  Have you got a kind of report card on Daniel Ricciardo from what you've observed so far and what you think, you know, Albert Park and the rest of his year might look like?
• 11:46
  What I wish for Dani is that he has got one very good race, you know, to get it out of his head that he can still do good racing.
• 11:56
  I mean, everybody's immediately on to Dani.
• 11:59
  If he doesn't outperform his teammate or he's not back, he's not back.
• 12:02
  I mean.
• 12:05
  his thing that McLaren wasn't his best one.
• 12:08
  I mean, but Danny was a guy which won races and I said that when he left McLaren, normally these guys don't unlearn to drive F1 cars.
• 12:16
  If you win races, you need to be good.
• 12:17
  Even if you've got a good car, you still need to get it done.
• 12:20
  You know, and he got it done.
• 12:21
  So,
• 12:21
  But, you know, he's a very nice guy and obviously struggled at McLaren.
• 12:27
  He came back last year.
• 12:28
  I think he did a good comeback and then obviously had the broken hand, which didn't help again.
• 12:34
  You know, he got a little bit of unlucky.
• 12:38
  situations in the moment and now he's in the car and after two races everybody's already judging him and comparing him to his teammate that he doesn't beat Yuki Tsunoda but I think Yuki is not a bad driver everybody seems like to say if you cannot beat Yuki you're no good I mean Yuki learned a lot in the last years he's in Formula 1 I don't think he's a bad driver so as I said I wish that he has a very good result that at least he can take that pressure off of him from the people outside you know and
• 13:07
  uh he he frees up and does what he does best go fast in a racing car cool you've been great with your time two quick questions to finish if we can you kind of gave a little bit of an overview before of albert park and it's and it's kind of demands can you go a little bit further there and just the kind of things that fans who should perhaps watch out for maybe strategically or things that might happen on sunday afternoon and who wins gunter in you your mind and can we get an aussie on the podium
• 13:35
  I would say all what you said is possible, but I cannot guarantee it.
• 13:39
  No, I think it's always a good atmosphere in Albert Park.
• 13:46
  The people out there, they enjoy themselves.
• 13:49
  They love it to be out there.
• 13:50
  And I think everybody who has got the opportunity to go to watch the race should take it and enjoy it because whatever you watch there is always interesting.
• 13:58
  And as I said,
• 13:59
  Anything can happen, you know.
• 14:00
  It's like, yeah, we had two races, max one, and no Aussie was on the podium.
• 14:05
  But it's now the third race of the season, and I don't think it will just continue as the first two did.
• 14:12
  You know, at some stage, the heat will go up, and then somebody will make a mistake or be...
• 14:21
  you know, driving too hard and driving into somebody.
• 14:24
  So that's always good to be seen.
• 14:25
  So obviously I cannot predict exactly what is happening, but I think it is always a very good event and a good fun to be there.
• 14:33
  We're delighted to get you on the podcast.
• 14:35
  Thank you so much for your time.
• 14:37
  We have loved you on Netflix.
• 14:39
  We have absolutely loved the book and we know viewers watching the coverage are going to benefit from your straight talk and your insights this weekend.
• 14:46
  Thank you so much.
• 14:47
  Thanks for having me, Rasti.
• 14:49
  Thank you.
• 14:50
  How good is he?
• 14:51
  Gunter mentioned in his F1 column recently that time away from Haas in the past few weeks has made him realise that he stayed at the team for too long.
• 14:59
  That realistically Haas was there and could only fight for kind of sevenths, eights and ninths, but not podiums.
• 15:05
  They are just not the same weapons.
• 15:08
  He knows that he doesn't want to do that ever again.
• 15:11
  If the kind of right project came along, of course he would entertain the idea of working back in the paddock for another team, but...
• 15:19
  He wants it to be a competitive one.
• 15:21
  Our thanks to my old family at Channel 10 for helping to tee that up.
• 15:24
  Don't miss their coverage this weekend with Gunter.
• 15:26
  Funny man and proper F1 devotee, Tim McDonald.
• 15:30
  From the cheap seats, you might also know him from the reserve drivers.
• 15:34
  Aussie Sam Power.
• 15:35
  Rosanna Tennant is a part of that.
• 15:36
  Tom Clarkson, who hosts the official F1 pods.
• 15:40
  A good mate of the Rusty's Garage podcast in Richard Crail, who does a brilliant job with their play-by-play commentary of the race.
• 15:48
  1996 world champion Damon Hill and more.
• 15:50
  all from the 10 Sport Squad.
• 15:52
  They are on air Friday afternoon until 5pm covering practice.
• 15:56
  Saturday qualifying, join them from 10am and you can park in front of the telly from 8.30am on race day, 10 and 10 play.
• 16:04
  A couple of other pieces of news before we go.
• 16:06
  AGPC CEO Travis Old told colleagues Cam Vanderduggan and Kralsey on the Gridwalk show last week that supercars are still a very important part of the offering at Albert Park, despite some stressors.
• 16:19
  around fan access to their new paddock.
• 16:22
  Now, Travis is acutely aware that Formula One teams want the V8s to continue as a part of our unique Aussie event offering.
• 16:30
  Now, Travis and everyone involved in the staging of this event is calling on all patrons this weekend, all ticket holders.
• 16:38
  to do the right thing.
• 16:39
  There is no post-race track access like there used to be.
• 16:44
  So I can't stress that enough.
• 16:45
  Unfortunately, what some did last year has for now put a stop on a really cool celebration around the podium.
• 16:54
  So no track access after the race on Sunday.
• 16:57
  True fans, I know, will observe that and thank you for doing so.
• 17:01
  Lots of other cool activity happening this year to celebrate 30 years since the first of McDoan's five straight 500cc World Motorcycle Championship titles.
• 17:12
  He'll be cutting laps of Albert Park in a production spec or on a production spec RCV213.
• 17:18
  His son Jack will be at the wheel of a 2000 Benetton B200 F1 car.
• 17:21
  That thing sounds sweet.
• 17:23
  Sweet.
• 17:27
  The overall standings from the TCR round at Simmons Plains in Tasmania last week are provisional.
• 17:33
  Tony Dalberto and the Wall Racing team have lodged a notice of intention to appeal with a hearing scheduled before the next round at Phillip Island in a few weeks' time.
• 17:42
  Tony actually parked his car in protest early in the final race of the weekend.
• 17:48
  It's thought that several others would follow suit, but didn't.
• 17:52
  TD was not happy with the way things were run and there were rumours they may not even be at the next round.
• 17:59
  Now, there is a statement from Motorsport Australia.
• 18:01
  It all follows the decision that was made to award full points after race one, which was affected by a crash.
• 18:07
  Gary Rogers Motorsport protested that decision after the provisional results for race one were released on Sunday morning.
• 18:14
  That protest was subsequently heard and upheld with stewards determining no points left.
• 18:19
  would be awarded for the opening race.
• 18:21
  We will keep you posted on that one.
• 18:23
  Some big news overnight involving Dakar legend Toby Price.
• 18:27
  He's taken to social media to chat about the fact that KTM has decided not to renew his contract.
• 18:35
  So Dakar 2024 was his last event with them.
• 18:39
  I really hope that he can find another ride.
• 18:42
  He is a true grit, a true warrior when it comes to that event.
• 18:46
  and I'd love to see him have another crack at winning Dakar once again.
• 18:50
  That is it for today.
• 18:51
  Enjoy Grand Prix weekend, everybody.
• 18:53
  Huge amount of motorsport.
• 18:55
  Supercars are there too.
• 18:56
  IndyCar is in California.
• 18:58
  MotoGP in Portugal.
• 19:00
  We will catch you next week.
• 19:01
  Bye for now.