Amidst Haas’ financial trouble, Guenther Steiner had no choice but to rely on two rookies – Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. Two years later, the Haas boss vowed never to take the risky route again that he had to take for the immense monetary factor, as per Motorsport.com. The monetary factor here involves the amount of money Schumacher brought in from his 1&1 sponsorship deal. This was in addition to the $13,000,000, Mazepin and Uralkali brought to Haas.
This has come from the American team’s boss after they have confirmed Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen for the upcoming season. Admittedly, the Kannapolis-based team also had to let Kevin Magnussen go in the past in order to make way for a rookie.
However, in the two seasons following Schumacher and Mazepin’s appointment, the American team failed to make any progress. While they were entirely pointless in 2021, they had little improvement in the team after Kevin Magnussen was brought back into the team in 2022. Nevertheless, it provided Steiner with a valuable life-lesson.
Guenther Steiner is not ready to make the same mistake twice
Haas recently confirmed their current drivers Hulkenberg and Magnussen for the 2024 F1 season. With that, Steiner revealed that signing rookies was too risky as he already had a horrible experience back in 2021.
Talking about this, he said, “I think we have got the best driver pairing we can get at the moment, with our financials and the effectiveness of our car. So, I never actually spoke to anybody else.” Following this, he added on signing a rookie, “It is still a risky business to take a young driver and how to go around it.”
Admittedly, the Haas team principal is not entirely wrong with his statement as the team has less to worry about this season. Even though they are not having their best season, they are still managing to rake up points here and there.
Haas is in a better place after letting Mick Schumacher go
Haas sacked Mick Schumacher to sign Nico Hulkenberg this season and this move proved to be an important one for the entire team. The team does not have to deal with the extreme costs that they had to deal with last year due to the German driver’s numerous crashes.
This helped the team to overcome their never-ending budget issues. Apart from this, they also have a certain edge with experienced drivers such as Magnussen and Hulkenberg who can be of immense help throughout the season for challenger modification.
Nevertheless, Guenther Steiner received heavy criticism for sacking the son of Michael Schumacher. The entirety Schumacher family was unhappy after the former was sacked despite showing signs of improvement.
