Two ex-F1 drivers have directed criticism at Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who is being judged for the way he’s treated current driver Mick Schumacher in the last two years.
With his contract set to expire at the end of the year, it is widely believed now that Schumacher’s contract with the Americans won’t be extended, leaving the 23-year-old without a seat in F1 next season.
Schumacher has endured a challenging second season in the sport, following on from a rookie season where he managed better results than was realistically possible from the shockingly bad VF-21.
His sophomore season has proved to be an unsuccessful one for the German, who has failed to deliver consistent results in a car capable of points finishes.
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The son of Michael Schumacher has achieved just two points finishes in 2022, at the British and Austrian Grand Prix.
With that in mind, it is supposedly a done deal that former Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg will replace Schumacher at the team next season, with an announcement potentially coming this week.
Haas appear to have opted for the 35-year-old’s experience over Schumacher’s youth, demonstrating that the side are possibly targeting consistency over one-off strong results.
Schumacher’s uncle, ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, believes everyone “apart” from Steiner has worked well with his nephew, with the German highlighting that the Italian has been too “critical” on the young driver.
“If you are so critical of the drivers, use self-criticism,” Schumacher’s uncle said on Sky Deutschland.
Ex-F1 driver Hans-Joachim Stuck echoed the former Toyota driver’s point, who has stated that Steiner “was wrong” for slamming the number 47 driver, labelling it as “useless criticism”.
“Steiner was wrong to unnecessarily put Mick under pressure with useless criticism,” Stuck told ServusTV.
The Haas boss was asked about how he reacts to people judging his management style, with the Italian believing that his approach with Schumacher “doesn’t bother” the driver.
“It doesn’t [bother him],” he said as per GPFans.
“Just look who says it. You judge the people like this.
“I’ve got my opinion about the people and I don’t need to write it on social media because I’ve got enough confidence to know what I do.”
Steiner added that ‘those people’ speaking out against him does result in fans turning on him personally, due to their love of the 23-year-old.
The team principal is certain that fans are “influenced” by those who speak out, but that it’s arguably just “tough s**t”.
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“Absolutely,” he said.
“They are influenced but that is part of the game.
“But going into battle and always justifying when you know you did the right thing is like, ‘Okay, a few fans are against that’. Tough s**t!”