‘I’m not ashamed’: Guenther Steiner refuses to apologise for Mick Schumacher comment

Haas have been accused of ‘bullying’ Mick Schumacher last season.

Mick Schumacher has a tough 2022, with the driver spending the majority of the season trying to prove his worth to Haas.

The young German delivered some excellent performances at times but his inconstancy and tendency to crash the car was making him a very expensive asset to a relatively small team.

Drive to Survive shows the saga from all angles, with team principal Guenther Steiner and team owner Gene Haas clearly getting annoyed at their driver and considering a change very early on in the season.

Following Schumacher’s expensive crash in Saudi Arabia which saw the German split his car in half, Steiner is shown going on a rant about the 23-year-old to Gene Haas.

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“It is f***,” he says. “Between half a million and a million I would say. F****** hell.

“Give him a year to learn and what does he do in the second race? He f****** destroys the car just because the other one is faster.”

This theme carries on over the course of the season, with Steiner often found raging at Schumacher for his crashes, eventually leading to the German being released ahead of the 2023 season.

Nico Hulkenberg has been signed to replace Schumacher and when asked about this decision and his treatment of Schumacher, Steiner has urged fans not to over-analyse his comments.

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“I didn’t watch it but I made the comment,” he explained. “In the heat of the moment I sometimes say things but then you think back a few hours later.

“Obviously Drive to Survive shows the world in the most trickly moments and that’s what the show needs to do.

“I mean what was said was said, I didn’t think it would make it, but it was decided not to take it out because we have nothing to hide this.

“It is what it is. I’m not ashamed of it.

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“As I said I can explain it as in the heat of the moment in the races you say things I wouldn’t say now, for example.

“Things like this happen in racing so we shouldn’t go too deep into it to analyse my mental state.”

Schumacher will spend this season serving as Mercedes’ third driver as he tries to earn himself a place back on the grid for 2024.