The former Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner, is living a second life as a Formula 1 influencer. After acting as a testimonial for the Miami GP, Steiner is following a busy schedule of interviews and hosted on various podcasts. Each of his appearances brings with it decidedly strong statements, as he accustomed us to during his period at the head of Haas. During his latest outing, the Italian manager spoke out about the hypothetical Mick Schumacher's return to Formula 1, aboard the Alpine.
What did Steiner say about Mick Schumacher?
Speaking on the Red Flags Podcast, Guenther Steiner expressed his opinion on the future of the Alpine team, following the dismissal of Esteban Ocon. Among the names vying for the Frenchman's seat, that of also appeared Mick Schumacher, currently engaged with Alpine in the WEC. Regarding the hypothetical choice of the German, Steiner responds clearly:
"Not at the moment. As I said, at the moment we need to try to get the best driver around. As a construction team, you have to do the best you can. You have to think about who is around. I don't think Sainz will go there, that's my opinion. There's Tsunoda. Alpine, as a manufacturer team, should have the money to be able to get the best driver on the market. This is what you have to try to do and I think that, among the drivers on the market, the next best driver on the market is obviously Sainz or Tsunoda. I would bet on one of them"
The history between Guenther Steiner and Mick Schumacher
Steiner knows Mick Schumacher well, as he was his driver during one of Haas' worst seasons. The Schumacher-Mazepin duo experienced the 2021 season with a car decidedly far from its rivals, as Steiner preferred to take over paydriver Mazepin and concentrate the team's resources on the development of the 2022 single-seater. The final result was a single-seater, the VF-21, extremely nervous and entrusted to two drivers with very little experience on board a Formula 1.
During the season, they were several accidents occurred to Mick Schumacher, culminating in the Munich 2021 episode, in which the German's VF-21 literally split in two. Such events have heavily impacted Haas's funds and on the nerves of Steiner himself, who never expressed words of support for his pilot, to the point of deny him a seat for the 2022 season.
Mick Schumacher is currently Mercedes' third driver and is also working full time with the Alpine team in the WEC. Together with him, the candidates for the seat in F1 are the two young people from the academy of the French team Jack Doohan and Victor Martins.