Haas boss Guenther Steiner has identified the crucial element that ultimately caused Mick Schumacher to leave the team.
The American-owned outfit decided to part ways with Michael Schumacher Jr. after two years and replace him with seasoned driver Nico Hulkenberg for the upcoming season.
A poorly performing car, which the team had openly stated would not be developed before the year, hindered the 23-year-debut old’s campaign in 2021.
However, with an improved car in the 2022 season, Schumacher started to show his ability, breaking his slump with a pair of points finishes in Austria and the United Kingdom.
“He improved a lot last year,” Steiner said in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport. “He had some moments that were very good.”
“I have to say, we were all pleasantly surprised by what he brought, but in the overall package, just to help the team, we decided to bring in an experienced driver again, like we had back in 2018.”
“When we got into Formula 1, in the first year we had Romain and Esteban and we had something similar. Esteban wasn’t bad, only we said that we needed someone with a bit more experience.”
“Because of that, we now have two and now we have even more experience because Kevin has now driven in Formula 1 for seven years and with Nico, he has been in Formula 1 for a long time and always in the position where we actually wanted to be.”
“There’s a reason why we took Nico… That’s not the one, there’s a performance reason why we got him.”
Even though Schumacher has settled in well with Mercedes as a backup, concerns about Haas’ reasons for the switch were voiced right away.
“It’s always the question that very much, I wouldn’t say is difficult to answer, only to answer correctly,” Steiner added. “Better or worse doesn’t really matter much here, what we wanted to achieve is to improve the team.”
“I think we still have potential to improve as a team, and what is the best way to advance a team? With experience. You know what they can do and who can move the team forward.”
“Unfortunately, Mick was only in his second season and there are people who have been there before. They have already spent seven, eight, 10 years in Formula 1 and they simply know more and they can move the team forward… That’s why we decided to do it.”
