Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has agreed with Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher, who stated that young drivers nowadays aren’t given enough time to develop in Formula 1.
Mercedes’ newest signing made the comment following his disappointing departure from Haas, after an eventful two-year spell was brought to an end.
The American side opted not to extend the 23-year-old’s contract beyond 2022, with the son of Michael Schumacher having been dropped in favour of the experienced Nico Hulkenberg, who hasn’t occupied a full-time seat since he raced for Renault in 2019.
Schumacher’s two years at Haas were mixed to say the least, with his first season having been spent at the back, as a result of the team using their 2020 machinery for a second season.
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2022 was more promising for the 2020 F2 World Champion; however, he was heavily criticised for two extraordinarily big crashes.
After only finishing in the top 10 twice in 2022, Haas opted to go for an experienced line-up for next season, which meant parting ways with the German driver.
Despite sacking the new Mercedes driver, Steiner has admitted that Schumacher is correct in what he said, which is actually why they had to return to an experienced driver pairing.
“I think he’s right,” Steiner said of Schumacher’s claim.
“I mean in racing two years is pretty good time but there is nothing before.
“You jump straight from F2 to F1, the competition, because there is no testing.
“I fully agree and as you can see, we reverted back to get the experience a driver which wasn’t in the car since three years, or not full time, call it like this, in a car.”
Steiner went on to warn McLaren that Oscar Piastri might not be as good as everyone suggests, with the Aussie having no experience in the championship.
The Italian admitted that taking a rookie driver is a “risk”, with the jump from F2 to F1 still being a “big step”.
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“The young drivers, you cannot really evaluate or you take big risks, like I mean McLaren takes on Piastri,” Steiner said.
“But in the end nobody knows how good he will be in an F1 car. He was very good in F3 and F2 but that doesn’t mean it’s still a big step to F1.
“So obviously I think it is a little bit of a… I wouldn’t say a problem, it’s one of these things, how much risk you want to take to get a rookie in the car.”