Guenther Steiner will return to the F1 paddock sooner than expected in a new punꦏditry role for German TV.

The popular Italian left his position as Haas team principal at the end of a difficult 2023 season after the American outfit opted against extending his contraꦗct for the new campaign.

Steiner, who gained cult status in F1 thanks to Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, will be back in t🦹he paddock at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in his new TV r💙ole.

He has signed up to appear as a pundit at seven race weekends for German broadca𝕴ster RTL.

RTL confirmed the🧔 new role will start at next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

RTL programme head Inga Leschek ♏said: “With Guenther Steiner, we have managed to get a long-time manager and Form💙ula 1 insider directly from the paddock in front of the RTL microphones, who will enrich our live broadcasts with current insights and plain text.”

Steiner♛ added: “Formula 1 is competition at the highest level, on the ꦡracetrack and in the paddock.

“How should the drivers’ p🔥erformance be evaluated and what does that mean for the organisations behind them? I look forward to examining these processes with this strong on-air team and sharing my analyses of the racing events.”

It𝓡 remains to be seen if Steiner will return to the F1 paddock on a full-time basis in the future.

Steiner admitted he had been “stung” by🐈 not having the chance to say a proper farewell at Haas, but insisted he was in no rush to return to F1. 

"If there's something interesting and which challenges me, yes, but just looking for a jo꧂b just to stay in F1, maybe that's not what I want," he said.