“F***ing hell, can you imagine?” Guenther Steiner’s response to replacing Christian Horner

Guenther Steiner has laughed out suggestions that he could be the man to replace Christian Horner as team boss at Red Bull.

Steiner is out of work after leaving Haas at the start of the year, however, he’s been in the paddock as part of his TV role with German broadcaster RTL.

The 58-year-old worked at Red Bull between 2005 and 2008 before returning to F1 with Haas in 2016.

With uncertainty around Horner’s position at Red Bull amid the investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour - and the fallout surrounding that - would Steiner be open to being their new team principal?

“Haha, I don’t think so,” Steiner told the Telegraph.. “F***ing hell, can you imagine?”

“It’s easy to say: ‘Yeah, I could do it.’ But that is yet to be proven. Do I believe I could do it? Yes. But it’s a very competitive environment.”

Steiner remains “open-minded” about a possible F1 return - but he’s in no rush.

“You just go away for four days and then go back home,” he added. “F***ing hell! Easy!”

“I’m very open-minded. I said that in the beginning. I just see what is out there.

“You know, I speak with a lot of people, I still have a lot of friends. Obviously, I’m not involved operationally, but just people call me up and have a chat and things like this.

“But I’m in no hurry. I’m not going out to shop myself around. But if people ask, and then you look at it and say yes or no and talk with them.”

The Italian also revealed that a number of team bosses reached out after his departure from Haas.

“After [he lost his job] a few of them sent me texts saying: ‘Hey, you did a good job. You couldn’t have done more. It wasn’t in your hands any more.’ I got a few messages. A few called me up. So I think the respect is there," he concluded.