Steiner did not see Schumacher capable of making Haas grow

Guenther Steiner returns to Haas' decision not to extend Mick Schumacher's contract.

Published on 24/11/2022 à 10:24

Gonzalo Forbes

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Steiner did not see Schumacher capable of making Haas grow

Guenther Steiner returned to the departure of Mick Schumacher from Haas. ©DPPI/F. Gooden

After a successful season to say the least given its situation in 2021, Haas has decided to review its plans for 2023. If the place of Kevin Magnussen has never been called into question, that of Mick Schumacher has long been the subject of debate within the ranks of Gene Haas's team. Despite clear signs of progress throughout the year from the German, Guenther Steiner and his acolytes ultimately decided not to extend the adventure, putting an end to their two collaborative campaigns.

« Mick can (become) a good driver, or he is already a good driver, but he can still improve, underlined the main team of Haas, guest on the Beyond the Grid podcast. But how long will it take us? Because he grows with us but he cannot make us grow. We said to ourselves: “What can we do?” »

After consideration, Haas made the decision to replace Mick Schumacher with Nico Hulkenberg thus preferring to rely on a pilot with greater experience in F1. " We looked around and we knew NicoHe says. We had had a few exchanges with him over the last few years but it never happened. He was on the market. He hasn't ridden full time for three (so we wondered), can he do it?

He competed in two races this year (with Aston Martin) and did well. We evaluated what was best for the team and in the end it turned out that it was better to have an experienced driver for the team to progress faster. This is how a Formula 1 team works, you have to progress quickly otherwise you lose momentum and stay behind."

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Gonzalo Forbes

In charge of promotion formulas (F2, F3, FRECA, F4...). Carried by the grace of Franco Colapinto.

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