“Mass exodus, it’s not true” – Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has given clarity on reports of a significant chunk of race crew quitting after the end of season.
Haas had a disastrous 2021 season, scoring a sum total of zero points all season. While Mick Schumacher did a commendable job, fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin was a disaster bigger than the team.
This has led to rumors floating around that the latter’s dad – Mazepin Sr., co-owner – is incentivizing employees to stay in the team. This comes after news of employees apparently quitting in groups, something that has been outrightly rejected by team boss Guenther Steiner.
“People leaving, I think that is every season, at the end of the season, some people leave.
“For example, on the technical side of things, we have got more people than we had before, when they are staying, there was not that many people leaving. It’s more of a race thing because it’s a calendar of 23 races.
“People just want to have another career. They’re doing something different but it’s not being outrageous.
“It’s a little bit more than normal, but it’s the end of every year, some people move away a little bit because otherwise, the race mechanics normally are young because they need to be young.
“It’s quite physical to do this job, and if somebody sees an opportunity, when he moves on, it’s okay to do something better.
“I don’t stop them, but there’s a mass exodus, it’s not true.
“We speak with other people [teams] and they have got the same issue.
“It’s nothing different. It’s just a few people are leaving. Every year, they are leaving. If he [Mazepin] had to give them an incentive, if he can do it right, I’m all for it.”
