EXCLUSIVE
Guenther Steiner insists he would be ‘very happy’ to see Mick Schumacher back in a Formula 1 car, no matter what his uncle says.
Steiner and Schumacher worked together for two years in the young German driver’s brief spell with the American team, but it didn’t end well for the son of seven-time world champion Michael.
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Mick earned his place in Formula 1 on merit, being promoted to the top echelon of the sport after becoming Formula 2 champion in 2020, being snapped up by Haas.
But the risky decision backfired for team and driver, as struggles with his car and a number of crashes saw him end his rookie season on zero points.
His sophomore season wasn’t much better, with more errors and shunts, while he was comfortably beaten by teammate Kevin Magnussen in the world championship standings. Schumacher finished in the points just twice all year and he was let go at the end of the season.
Since his departure as Haas team principal following the 2023 campaign, Steiner has spoken candidly on where it went wrong for the 25-year-old, and that has led to a war of words with his uncle, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher.
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Uncle Ralf has accused Steiner of not wanting Mick to return to Formula 1, and is now refusing to work with the former Haas chief as a broadcast pundit.
“I don't understand these senseless rants,” Ralf posted on Instagram. “I'm starting to get the feeling that he wants to prevent [a return]. Because if Mick returns successfully, Steiner would have to go through the dust.”
A 2025 return does appear to be on the cards for Mick, who completed a test day for Alpine on July 3 in the French team’s 2022 car at Circuit Paul Ricard.
And while his spat with uncle Ralf and public criticism of Mick might suggest otherwise, Steiner insists he would be fully supportive of the young driver’s return to F1.
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“With Mick there were a lot of wrecked cars and a lot of headache, but he’s a nice kid,” he told talkSPORT at new Buffalo Trace distillery in London.
“Mick returning to F1? It’s perfectly fine with me.
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“His uncle has said I don’t want him in F1, I’m sure if somebody wants him they know what they want out of him.
“I never said he’s a bad driver, but he needs an opportunity to show what he can do and I'm perfectly supportive of that.
“At the time I was there [at Haas] and we didn’t want him anymore, or we wanted to change, it was a change for the team. We wanted experience and that’s what we did, we brought experience in. You need time to gain that experience, and he didn’t have that time.
“I think we did the right thing then and if Mick gets the opportunity from somebody, good for him, you know?
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“I’m actually very happy, so he can show what he can do.”
Mick is currently a Mercedes reserve driver, but has been added to the list of candidates to replace Esteban Ocon as Alpine’s No.2 driver to Pierre Gasly.
Ocon is departing Alpine at the end of the season, while Gasly recently renewed his contract.
Steiner was asked if he has any advice for Schumacher if he does indeed get a seat for the 2025 season and has another shot at forging an F1 career for himself.
He said: “My advice would be just to keep his head down and focus on racing his car and nothing else.”
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And his advice for Schumacher’s next team principal? He added: “Don’t get distracted by the outside world.
“Obviously his last name means something in Formula 1 and everybody has an opinion about it.
“You need to go your own way and just look at the performance of Mick, nothing else.
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“Ignore the rest.”
Guenther Steiner is a new brand ambassador for Buffalo Trace Bourbon whiskey and spoke to media at their new distillery location in London - for more information, visit: buffalotracedistillery.com