Ich habe mir gedacht: Es wäre geil, ein MotoGP-Team zu haben.
LAOLA1: Last year, it was officially announced in Barcelona that you would buy Tech3 and take over from Herve Poncharal. When did this decision mature within you?
Steiner: I generally like the sport. And sometimes I have these ideas, you could even call them crazy ideas. When I left Formula 1, I went to the MotoGP race in Austin as a fan. On the way back, I thought to myself: It would be awesome to own a MotoGP team. I did my research, worked on it, and found a team I could buy. I managed to find people with the necessary money and set off. That's how we got here. We were very lucky that with Tech3, we bought a team that was very well prepared. Herve Poncharal did a great job building up the team. The people here truly work as a team and enjoy working together. That's great for me to see, which is why I'm very happy here.
LAOLA1: What were the biggest hurdles along the way?
Steiner: Finding a seller! Someone who genuinely wants to let go of the team. Raising the money was the lesser problem. Of course, you also have to explain to people what you plan to do. But the sport is growing – so for someone to sell a team, you need compelling arguments.
LAOLA1: I read that your wife might not have been entirely convinced by this idea.
Steiner: She says: Why do you keep putting yourself through this? Why do you always want to do something new? But I can't sit still, she knows that too. I like being at home, my family likes having me around. But doing nothing, I can't do that. I always have to be working on something. For me, such projects are simply beautiful. They interest me; I can fulfill myself through them.
Zwischen 25 und 30 Millionen Euro.
LAOLA1: Can you reveal how much it costs to buy a MotoGP team?
Steiner: I don't want to name the exact figure, but between 25 and 30 million Euros.
LAOLA1: That's a considerable sum.
Steiner: Yes, that's not pocket change.
LAOLA1: Why are you CEO and not Team Principal, as you were previously in Formula 1?
Steiner: Because I can't be at every race – and I don't want to be. I want to keep some distance. We have very good people leading the team. They don't need me, and I don't want to interfere. I've done that long enough. I want to advance the team commercially and also help move the sport forward a bit, so we can reach even more fans.
LAOLA1: What specifically does it mean to build up the team commercially?
Steiner: For example, finding title sponsors. We want to bring the team more into the foreground and make it attractive to sponsors.
LAOLA1: You embark on such a project with ideas and visions. What are they?
Steiner: One concrete idea is to make the sport as big as possible. As a team, we contribute our part to this, with the experience not only I personally, but the entire team possesses. The investors are also very important. They are from America and have very good connections. If we advance the team, the sport also advances. If the sport advances, the team advances. We also want to work together with the other teams in the paddock.
Man sollte nicht hergehen und Copy-Paste betreiben, das wird nicht funktionieren.
LAOLA1: What specifically does MotoGP need to do to reach even more fans?
Steiner: One must make fans aware of how beautiful and exciting the sport is. Many people know MotoGP, but they don't know how interesting the sport is until they engage with it a bit. I experienced the same thing in the USA with Formula 1. I live in the USA – many people already knew Formula 1, but nobody watched it. At some point, this interest emerged, and the sport grew. We need to achieve the exact same thing with MotoGP, because the sport is great. We might need to adjust the format a little, but that would only be fine-tuning. We need to bring MotoGP to people through social media. Television alone is not enough. You have to use social media to spark interest, especially among young people. And then I believe it will work.
LAOLA1: You witnessed firsthand how Formula 1 generated a real hype through formats like the Netflix series "Drive to Survive". Today, Formula 1 is achieving record numbers all over the world. Should MotoGP take a leaf out of their book – or should its own, new paths be found?
Steiner: One must find new ways, because MotoGP can write its own story. At the same time, one must use the experiences gained with Formula 1. One shouldn't just go and 'copy-paste,' that won't work. But many experiences have already been gathered that did work. So let's not do the things that didn't work. With Liberty Media, MotoGP has the same owner as Formula 1; they have all the values. We also need to be a bit patient. Everyone thinks nothing has changed since Liberty Media bought MotoGP. However, in Formula 1 too, it took a few years for things to change – but nobody noticed. Nobody knew what Liberty Media was doing until it happened. And it will be the same with MotoGP.
LAOLA1: In that regard, it's certainly an advantage to have an experienced owner in Liberty Media.
Steiner: Absolutely! You can also trust Liberty Media that the sport itself will remain the same. They haven't changed it in Formula 1 either. Only the surrounding aspects were engineered by Liberty Media. This will also be the case in MotoGP. Hardcore fans can be sure that their sport will not be changed. The sport will remain the focus of these events.
LAOLA1: What surprised you most since you came to MotoGP?
Steiner: How well-positioned the teams are, sportingly and technically. The quality of the people positively surprised me; I hadn't expected that. I know Formula 1, and great people work there too. But here I noticed that you don't have to do much on the sporting and technical side. I was also surprised how much of a difference a rider can make here – much more than in Formula 1.
LAOLA1: Especially when it comes to feedback to the team.
Steiner: There's no telemetry and much less engineering. Riding a motorbike is also physically much more demanding than driving a car. A good rider can make a huge difference here, even if he doesn't have a top-tier bike.
LAOLA1: Was there anything in the team that you immediately wanted to address?
Steiner: I was lucky that I had to do very little regarding the team itself and the sporting side. Nicolas Goyon, who leads the team, also does a very good job. I don't interfere with things that are already good. That's pointless and a complete waste of time. If I know we have good people, then I must let them work. I have to focus on where we are not so good – and the team itself is good.
LAOLA1: What do your duties look like when you are at the track during a race weekend?
Steiner: For example, I speak with journalists like you. Because I attend approximately half of the races, I always have many requests. I'm also very honest: I still have a lot to learn. I didn't grow up in this sport. If someone has been here for ten, 20 years, they must know more than me. My role is to understand where we can get more out of the team and also to try to make more of the sport and work with the officials of the other teams to make MotoGP a better event.
Ich würde mir Vorwürfe machen, wenn wir ihn nicht aufgefordert hätten, dass er gesund werden muss.
LAOLA1: Let's briefly talk about the current season: Do you agree with me if I claim that it's been a difficult year for Tech3?
Steiner: It was mediocre, because we almost always only had one rider. The biggest challenge is the second rider. If we had two riders at Enea's (Bastianini, ed. note) level, we would actually be doing pretty well. The situation with Maverick (Viñales, ed. note) and his injury, which was never properly healed, is difficult. He was in pain and not fully fit. Sometimes we couldn't even race, then we had to use a substitute rider. That doesn't make it easy. If we had a second fit rider, the season would even be good. Enea has scored all points so far – except for 15. But that's racing; I don't want to blame Maverick at all. I would blame myself if we hadn't urged him that he needs to get healthy. That is the most important thing for a human being. He must be healthy; sport is secondary.
LAOLA1: Since the summer break, Pol Espargaro has been riding instead of Maverick Viñales. Can you say when Maverick will return?
Steiner: Unfortunately not. We have to see how the recovery process with his shoulder continues. At the moment it looks good – but is it good enough for him to get back on the bike? I don't know.
LAOLA1: Finally: If a headline about Tech3 were to be written, what would you like it to say?
Steiner: We won a race!
LAOLA1: Thank you for the interview!
