Marco Bezzecchi
Guenther Steiner has completed his transition to MotoGP following his exit from the Haas F1 team at the start of 2024, and he’s nailed the ‘biggest difference’ between the premier class and its four-wheeled counterpart, despite them sharing the same issues.
After purchasing the Tech3 outfit from Herve Poncharal during the latter stages of the 2025 MotoGP campaign, Guenther Steiner was present in the Thailand Grand Paddock and adorned in the colours of his new racing team.
Steiner was the leading figure in a consortium, which was also backed by F1 star Pierre Gasly, that brought the KTM satellite outfit and placed himself as CEO, with Richard Coleman taking up duties as team principal.
The move wasn’t welcomed with open arms by MotoGP fans, with many despairing over the thought of the former F1 team principal getting involved with a sport he isn’t too clued up on.
However, he’s well within his rights to be given ample time to see what he can do with the squad, and has fielded some questions regarding his transition from F1 to MotoGP.
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Guenther Steiner pinpoints the ‘biggest difference’ between F1 and MotoGP despite similar issues
During an interview with the hosts of the Motorsport Republica podcast inside the Thailand Grand Prix paddock, Steiner was asked for his thoughts on what the biggest difference between MotoGP and F1 is.
With ample experience in both disciplines, the Italian executive said, “There are a lot less people in MotoGP. I wouldn’t say it’s simpler because it isn’t simple, there’s a lot of work to be done, and you’ve got less people.
“It would be a lot simpler if you had the same amount of people that are in F1 with a MotoGP bike, but you don’t. But otherwise, it is a race team.
“The principles are the same: you never have enough time, nothing is good enough, you’re never fast enough, you never have enough money, everybody wants to spend more money.
“It’s the same old story. It’s racing. I would say it’s just the size of it. That’s the biggest difference, the size of the team.”
- READ MORE: Guenther Steiner explains why he won’t replicate F1 team principal role as Tech3 MotoGP owner
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Guenther Steiner’s career as a MotoGP team owner didn’t get off to the best start at the Thailand Grand Prix
Despite a rather encouraging pre-season testing programme, Tech3’s rider line-up of Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini languished outside the top-10 at the Thailand Grand Prix, while Pedro Acosta inserted himself as the championship leader on equal machinery.
Vinales was furious with his lack of pace in Buriram, especially after the final pre-season test at the same circuit indicated that he had a lot more pace than what was on display during the race weekend.
Enea Bastianini was the leading rider for Tech3, but even he has found some issues with the current dynamic within the KTM stable.
As an established Grand Prix winner in MotoGP, Bastianini has urged KTM to look beyond prioritising Acosta when it comes to developing the RC16.
However, Acosta’s impressive results only indicate that he will continue to receive favourable attention over the rest of his stablemates.
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