"It's about doing a good job" - Guenther Steiner won't 'defend' his actions in front of Mick Schumacher's family
Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has come out and said that he will not defend how he treated Mick Schumacher at Haas as he was trying to do the best for the team.
Answering allegations that Steiner wanted to be the sole point of attention at Haas and that was one of the reasons why Mick Schumacher faced the ax, Steiner denied these suggestions. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:
“I try to do a good job. It’s not about attention, it’s not about my attention it’s about doing a good job. If people take attention off it, I cannot say, don’t look at me. I’m not doing it on purpose. I don’t think I need to defend myself here. Everybody can do and say what they want and I do what I think is best for the team and leave it at that.”
Of course Mick designed a special tribute helmet for Sebastian Vettel's final F1 weekend, and it's beautiful 🫶
#HaasF1 #AbuDhabiGP https://t.co/UufYdFCcVq
When questioned if there had been any fallout or a breakdown in relationship with Mick Schumacher, Steiner said:
“No (fall out). With Mick, this is not an issue for me with Mick. I cleared that air very well with him and I know that it is not him. It has nothing to do with him."
When questioned what was the one thing that worked against Mick Schumacher when it came to deciding his future, Steiner focused on a lack of experience for the young German. According to Steiner, the team wanted someone like Nico Hulkenberg who has experience of doing this job for multiple seasons. He said:
"I think that the experience of multi-years in Formula 1 that never have been with another team than us. So by Nico being seen [as a driver with] three or four teams before, experience [is key] and experience takes time to make, and in the moment, we don’t have time, because we want to move forward."
Steiner further said:
"We don’t want to be where we are. Now, we want to get better. It is not Mick’s fault that we are where we are and we only have ourselves to blame, but we need to come up again and there is a shorter way by taking a guy with a lot of experience, which has done this in multiple teams.”
Danke Seb! https://t.co/fToMgHK5sP
Mick Schumacher's family not happy with the way the youngster was treated at Haas
Mick Schumacher's uncle Ralf Schumacher was one of the more stern critics of the way Haas treated the young German driver.
Talking to Sky Sports Germany after Haas signing Nico Hulkenberg was official, Ralf did not mince words against Guenther Steiner. He said:
"If you listened closely, [Mick] saying he had the support from Sebastian explains a lot, and to be honest, the topic is also over for me; but I can only say [to Guenther] congratulations on how you treated a young man, and I hope that he's proud of himself."
Mick Schumacher seems destined to head to Mercedes as a reserve driver next season, and in all likelihood, he won't be on the grid for the 2023 F1 season.