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Surviving to Drive: A Year Inside Formula 1: An F1 Book Kindle Edition
鶹
“People talk about football managers being under pressure. Trust me, that's nothing. Pressure is watching one of your drivers hit a barrier at 190mph and exploding before your eyes...”
In Surviving to Drive, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner brings readers inside his Formula 1 team for the entirety of the 2022 season, giving an unobstructed view of what really takes place behind the scenes. Through this unique lens, Steiner guides readers on the thrilling rollercoaster of life at the heart of high-stakes motor racing. Packed full of twists and turns, from pre-season preparations to hiring and firing drivers, from the design, launch, and testing of a car to the race calendar itself–Surviving to Drive is the first time that an Formula 1 team has allowed an acting team principal to tell the full story of a whole season.
Uncompromising and searingly honest, told in Steiner's inimitable style, Surviving to Drive is a fascinating and hugely entertaining account of the realities of running a Formula 1 team.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTen Speed Press
- Publication dateJuly 25 2023
- File size24.2 MB

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“Fearless and candid, Surviving to Drive reads like the night-time confessions of a football manager who is fighting to stay in the Premier League. A gleeful guide to a bonkers sport from a loveable rogue insider.”—The Times
“It’s gripping to read. It’s funny, it’s real, it’s exciting. It’s a brilliant book.”—Chris Evans
“Lifts the lid on life as a Formula 1 team principal. The book gives us honest, unfiltered Steiner.”—The Athletic
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Monday, 13 December 2021—Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
It probably won’t surprise many people that I am starting my book with a swear word but all I can say is, thank fok that season is over! It’s been a nightmare from start to finish. I don’t drink very much but this year I’ve been tempted to take it up professionally. Whisky on a foking drip. That’s what I needed sometimes!
It hasn’t just been this year, though. The shit goes back even further than that. Being kicked out of Melbourne at the start of 2020 was probably where it all began. We thought we’d be racing again in a couple of weeks’ time but what was actually ahead of us all was months and months of uncertainty. Will we survive? Will we even race again? Nobody knew, you know. It’s no secret that there were probably four teams that could easily have gone under during that time, including us. Pete Crolla, our team manager, had meetings with the FIA and Formula 1 two or three times a week, and while he fed everything back to Gene Haas and me, we tried to keep everything afloat. Even the sport itself was under threat for a time because we didn’t know how long the pandemic would last. Would it be three months? Would it be three years? Would it be three generations?
In the end Formula 1 basically shut down for about ninety days. That’s incredible, when you think about it. Especially for a sport that is famous for progression. The only time this sport ever comes close to shutting down is during the summer break and over Christmas. But even then there is a lot ticking along in the background. Me, for instance. You think that I shut down in the summer and over Christmas? Don’t be ridiculous. I have things to do. That ninety days, though, was a pretty shit time.
The thing that Formula 1 as a whole did right during those ninety days was to carry on as if things would eventually get better, at least as much as it was possible. This meant that when we could come up for air and start racing again we’d be ready to go. A lot of people worked hard to make that happen and it was a big risk. I mean, how long can you keep an engine ticking over before it finally runs out of gas or goes wrong? It was a nervous time.
We as a team had to do a lot of restructuring in order to keep us ticking over, so it wasn’t just a case of carrying on and hoping for the best. For sure, nobody was able to do that. One element of the ‘return to racing’ programme that was devised by the FIA and Formula 1 was the continuation of the existing regulations so, rather than produce a brand new car concept for the following season, we had to develop the existing cars. Unfortunately, for reasons I’ll very soon explain, our 2020 car wasn’t a great one so instead of trying to develop that for the rest of 2020 and throughout 2021, which would have been like trying to polish a turd, to be honest with you, we made the decision to use it again as it was, give or take, and put everything into developing a new car concept using the new regulations that were coming into place.
I have to pay tribute to Gene here because he could easily have taken a different viewpoint and said, Fok this for a game of soldiers. A lot of people would have, I think. Especially with all the uncertainty that was still surrounding the sport. Even when we started racing again nobody knew how long it would last. Every day we were reading about [the pandemic] and so we were always looking over our shoulders.
In all my years in motorsport, the decision to write off the 2021 season is the hardest I have ever been involved in. We’re all competitive people and so actually choosing to be shit for an entire season goes against everything we believe in and are striving every day to achieve. Every single race weekend put the team on a downward spiral. On arriving at the track they’d all try and be upbeat but then over the course of the weekend they’d start to sink. ‘What are we even doing here?’ they’d say. ‘This is shit!’ My main job during the whole of that season was to tell the team as many times as I needed to exactly why we were doing what we were doing and remind them that there was light at the end of the tunnel. Or should I say, the wind tunnel. You see, I’m also a foking comedian!
‘Look, guys, better times are ahead,’ I kept saying to them. ‘You have to believe that.’ Fortunately, they did and they stuck with it. We’ve got a really, really good bunch of people in the team at the moment. Sixty per cent of our staff have been with us for four or five years or more, which is pretty foking cool. We might not be able to retain form very well sometimes, but we’re great at retaining staff.
Writing off the 2021 season was the correct thing to do, though. I’m sure of it. Gene is, too. In 2020, which was a normal season for us in terms of spending and development (but turned out to be shit for all kinds of different reasons), our entire budget was roughly $173 million, whereas Ferrari’s was $463 million and Mercedes’ even more than that. Almost half a billion. That’s a big gap, you know. Even if we’d spent half of our allocated wind tunnel time on the 2021 car we’d still have finished last. Why would we do that? I’ve been in motorsport for thirty-six years and sometimes you have to just surrender to the circumstances and improve things when you can.
In 2021, as part of the new rules which were designed to make the sport more competitive, the share of the budget that’s performance-critical—design and development, component manufacture and testing—was limited to $145 million per team, and in order to take full advantage of that we decided to run the 2020 car in 2021 and put as much money as we could into developing the car for 2022. The top three salaries at each team aren’t included in this so it means that the guys at Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull can still gain an advantage by hiring the best people. Or at least three of them. I’m OK with that. It’s better than it was.
We’re all competitive people and every person who works for every team on the grid obviously wants their team to do well. OK, so we’re not likely to win many races anytime soon. In 2018, though, Haas, who were, and still are, the smallest team on the grid, scored ninety-three points and finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s not bad for a team that was also only three years old at the time. We’re not stupid.
The only thing that really kept the team going last season was that in the background we’d been developing a car that will hopefully make us competitive again in 2023. So far in our history we’ve had two promising seasons in 2016 and 2017, a foking brilliant season in 2018, a pretty difficult season in 2019, a shit season in 2020 and a dead season in 2021. That’s three on each side. There’s a hell of a lot riding on what we’re trying to achieve right now. Not to mention what happens next.
Anyway, I’m flying to Italy in a few hours so have to go. Ciao!
Product details
- ASIN : B0C56WK7MZ
- Publisher : Ten Speed Press
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : July 25 2023
- Language : English
- File size : 24.2 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 297 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-0593835487
- Page Flip : Enabled
- 鶹 Rank: #104,359 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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Customers say
Customers find the book entertaining, fantastic, and interesting. They also appreciate the humor, saying the Dakar rally was very funny.
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Customers find the book entertaining, fantastic, and interesting. They say it provides a keen insight into the workings of an F1 car.
"...The Dakar rally was very funny and interesting." Read more
"Great read to get the day to day insights of Guenther Steiner and life in F1. Would love to see a follow up book of life in F1 after Haas." Read more
"Great book......." Read more
"expensive , but a good read , funny" Read more
Customers find the book funny. They say Steiner uses humour and tells some interesting stories. Readers also mention the Dakar rally is very funny.
"expensive , but a good read , funny" Read more
"Must read for F1 fans! Steiner uses humour and tells some interesting stories." Read more
"Laughed a few times reading this book. The Dakar rally was very funny and interesting." Read more
"Hilarious and interesting -must read for F1 fans..." Read more
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Top reviews from Canada
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- Reviewed in Canada on July 14, 2025Verified Purchaseexpensive , but a good read , funny
- Reviewed in Canada on February 6, 2025Verified PurchaseLaced with F-bombs, which Guenther conveniently changes to "Fork". Probably to satisfy the publisher. Nonetheless, he provides a keen insight into the workings of an F1 team and the complexities involved. Steiner is also very candid about his opinions on his own and other drivers. As well as other team directors. A very entertaining book.
- Reviewed in Canada on March 5, 2025Verified PurchaseMust read for F1 fans! Steiner uses humour and tells some interesting stories.
- Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2025Verified PurchaseThis book is so funny-I can hear Gunter’s voice as I read it. Very interesting as well. Any F1 fan would enjoy it:)
- Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2025Verified PurchaseMust read if you’re an F1 fan, even more if you’re a DTS fan
- Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2024Verified PurchaseI am an F1 fan interested in the team principals and drivers so I have enjoyed the book. It is written in a diary format outlining his daily/weekly activities. The book tells about the behind-the-scenes operation and challenges. What does the future hold for Guenter and the Haas team!
- Reviewed in Canada on April 24, 2025Verified PurchaseF1 fans will enjoy for sure
- Reviewed in Canada on May 14, 2024Verified PurchaseI was hoping for more biopic but it is a journal of his year. If you like the gunth, this book will please. No big suprises, he is as he seems.
Top reviews from other countries
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars An addictive and binge worthy read! Outstanding!
Verified PurchaseThere's the term "binge watching" for a series on Netflix etc and I do a lot of binge reading. I binge read this book as I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. It was marvellous!
I'm a fan of Formula 1 and have watched Drive To Survive on Netflix in which the author features so this book was one that really appealed to me.
It was a tremendous book with many funny and interesting stories! It was very insightful and it gave you an idea of what it's like to be an Formula 1 team principal and all of the behind the scenes work that's involved.
If you're an F1 fan and haven't read this yet then I'd encourage you to do so. You won't be disappointed with it!
- RonniReviewed in the United States on June 18, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Guenther is a favorite.
Verified PurchaseI loved this book so much I also ordered and read his second book "Unfiltered". I love Formula One and try and read as much I can on the drivers, principals and everyone involved in the business. You won't be disappointed. Great book.
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Antonio CasolariReviewed in Italy on February 16, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Acquisto per regalo
Verified PurchaseAcquisto per regalo, molto gradito dal ricevente, spedizione perfetta
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SoloBSDReviewed in Mexico on July 2, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy bueno
Verified PurchaseAl mejor estilo del autor, un buen diario sobre lo que se vive en la F1