Mick Schumacher did not have the best of times at Haas. In his two-year stint with the American team, the German driver failed to impress team principal Guenther Steiner and was shown the exit door at the end of the 2022 F1 season. Now Schumacher looks back on his Haas days and recognizes how Steiner and Co. mistreated him as per Sky Sports Germany.
After Schumacher‘s exit from the Kannapolis-based team, he joined Mercedes as their reserve driver. Following this, Toto Wolff had repeated confrontations with Steiner on Schumacher’s harsh treatment at Haas.
That was fun, @SchumacherMick. 😊 pic.twitter.com/jOOi5Nc9qm
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 16, 2023
Wolff insisted that Steiner wouldn’t have dared to treat Schumacher as he did if his legendary father Michael Schumacher was around. This, naturally did not go down well with the Haas boss. Now Schumacher himself speaks about how much he struggled at Haas because of Steiner.
Mick Schumacher reflects on his Haas days
Even since Mick Schumacher joined Mercedes as their reserve driver, he received good care under the guidance of Wolff. The former Haas driver also benefitted from the relationship his father had with the German giants.
The 23-year-old is having a decent time away from the paddock at the Silver Arrows. This made him think about how bad his time was at Haas. Talking about this, he said, “I can see now how it should be. My two years [in F1] didn’t show me that.”
Smiley Schumi 😁#HaasF1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/rXqdroHFSO
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) November 10, 2022
Following this, he added, “[You cannot] assume a driver will perform at his best if you don’t support him in the right way.” However, this was not the first time Wolff decided to fight for his drivers. He has always fought very hard to protect his drivers.
Toto Wolff has always shared a helping hand with his drivers
In 2019, Esteban Ocon was sacked by Aston Martin [then Force India and Racing Point] to make way for Lance Stroll. Because of this, Wolff took Ocon under his wing and guaranteed him a seat on the grid next year itself.
Ocon has been a Mercedes junior driver since 2015 and he used this opportunity to get help from the Silver Arrows boss. In the end, the Frenchman joined Renault [now Alpine] in 2020. He credits Wolff a lot for helping him get that seat.
Similarly, the Mercedes boss is also trying to do the same with Mick Schumacher after being impressed with the German driver’s work ethic. For now, Schumacher will be hoping to get a seat in F1 next year. However, with very spots open, it seems unlikely that he will back.
