Carey the "wise schoolmaster" Formula 1 needed

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has paid tribute to outgoing Formula 1 CEO and chairman Chase Carey by hailing him "a wise schoolmaster" who put people "in the right place".

Carey is to stand down from his roles at the end of year but will remain in the sport as a non-executive chairman, with former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali to take up his posts from January 1, 2021.

The 66-year-old initially took up the reins from Bernie Ecclestone following Liberty Media's acquisition of F1 in January 2017, which at the time appeared to be shoes too big to fill.

But after helping to transform the sport, a grateful Steiner said: "We have to thank Chase for what he did for us and what he will be doing because he stays on as a non-executive chairman.

"That is a very good thing in my opinion because he earned the respect of the team principals here, and I think sometimes we need a bit of a wise schoolmaster.

“Chase is that type of guy who puts us in the right place because he has a lot of experience in business, he ran a big company before so he did a great job.

"If you come in from outside the sport, to deal with all of the individuals, to get to know them, how they tick and all that stuff, it’s not easy to understand it, but he did quite good."

Reflecting on the challenges faced by Carey during his relatively short time in charge, Steiner told Sky Sports F1: “He came in when it was time to renew the commercial agreement, and the pandemic struck as well, so he had a lot of things to fight.

"He did a fantastic job of having 17 races this year, he designed a better Concorde Agreement for everybody I would say. For the sport, for the future, it is in a very good place.”

Steiner also feels F1 could not be in better hands following the appointment of Domenicali whose arrival has been met with universal approval throughout the paddock.

"He’s a very good guy," said Steiner. "I think he understands the sport very well and, for sure, he is happy to come back to the sport because he was here in the heyday of the Ferrari era with Michael [Schumacher], so I think we welcome him back.

"And I think they have got a great team now with Stefano and Chase staying on now a little bit more in the background.”

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