Mick Schumacher has been a significant talk on the paddock ever since it became apparent that his seat at Haas F1 team is in danger.
Netflix’s Season 5 of Drive to Survive gave a remarkable insight into the tensions within the American camp after the German driver’s terrifying crashes in the 2022 season.
Team principal Guenther Steiner, who already faced criticism for sacking Schumacher, was seen ranting on Netflix’s cameras about his driver. This brought the Italian boss even more scrutiny.
Defending himself, inews quoted Steiner saying, “I didn’t do anything but my job.” The 57-year-old went on to defend his stance and even ranked Schumacher with his legendary father Michael Schumacher.
Steiner said, “Dealing with a Schumacher is not easy, as you can imagine.”
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Steiner’s ‘brutal’ judgements on Mick Schumacher
The news of Schumacher’s sacking turned many heads towards the American team. Drive to Survive gave detailed information about the atmosphere inside the team.
The show portrayed the assessment that the young German went through combined with Steiner’s peak unfettered and raw personality during stressful races.
One of the scenes that became a highlight was when Schumacher enquires about the health of the brakes and Steiner gets frustrated.
The Haas boss is captured saying, “He’s worried about overheating the brakes? F*cking hell. He’s going so f*cking slow, he doesn’t need the brakes.”
Speaking about his reactions and quotes captured by the OTT platform, Steiner explained during races, it’s like you’re high on drugs.
He said that in the heat of the moment, people say things which they wouldn’t if they were thinking with a clearer head. Furthermore, he said that he’s not an actor who needs to watch himself so that he does better next time.
He does his job for better results and not for TV. “I will not change. I’m too old for that,” he added.
Dealing with a Schumacher is not easy, as you can imagine
inews asked Steiner about how Schumacher reacted when he was told about his contract status. Steiner explained that he told the 23-year-old the team needs an experienced driver. It is not a nice thing to do and he does not enjoy it, but he just has to be professional about it.
The Italian boss then compared Mick’s reaction with his father saying, “Dealing with a Schumacher is not easy, as you can imagine.”
Steiner explained that obviously Schumacher was not happy about it and he’s a clever kid. He had two years with the team with undesirable results. “You cannot beat up a dead horse,” he said.
The German driver, in his two years with the Haas F1 team, could only manage to score 12 points. He crashed one too many times and became the leader of the destructors of the 2022 season.
His crashes cost the team millions of dollars, and time. All this combined led to his sacking in the 2022 season.
But thankfully, he did not completely step away from the world of F1 as Mercedes lend him a hand with a reserve driver role for the 2023 season.
