NOVEMBER 29, 2001
Steiner joins Jaguar F1 team as Managing Director
Jaguar F1 team principal Niki Lauda's determination to shape his operation into a competitive force has seen him raiding a rival section of the Ford competitions empire to secure the services of Guenther Steiner as Managing Director of the Grand Prix team.
Steiner will start in his new job next Monday after leaving M-Sport, the Cumbria-based company run by Malcolm Wilson where he was Director of Engineering for the Ford World Rally Team. He is regarded as the technical mastermind behind the success of the Ford Focus WRC challenger driven this season by Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz and is relishing his new challenge.
"The move from Ford's World Rally team to Jaguar Racing offered the perfect transition for me," he said. "Jaguar Racing will soon enter its third year in F1 and the team's on-track success is as much dependent on the organizational factors as it is on the technical element. I will focus on both of these areas. My goal will be to generate the same synergy throughout the Jaguar Racing squad that has taken Ford to the forefront of rallying."
Steiner joined the Ford team in December 1997 to take on the role of project leader for the new Focus World Rally Car program before being appointed Director of Engineering at M-Sport. Hailing from northern Italy, Steiner started his engineering career with Italy's Jolly Club motorsport operation and helped the club's Escort Cosworth cars win the Italian rally championship on three occasions."
Added Niki Lauda; "Guenther's proven credentials as a top level engineer make him the ideal choice for this position. He will report to me as CEO of the Premier Performance Division and as Team Principal of Jaguar Racing. He will be free to concentrate entirely on the engineering side of the business."