Guenther Steiner has written a scathing criticism of former driver Mick Schumacher.
The Italian is set to release a new book on Thursday called ‘Surviving to Drive’, detailing a year in the life of the Haas team boss during the 2022 Formula 1 season.
Unsurprisingly, Schumacher, who was dropped in favour of Nico Hulkenberg for this year, is among the main topics, starting with his crash in Monaco.
“And now we get on to Mick,” the always outspoken Steiner began. “Jeezoz [sic], where do I start?
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“The first time a driver writes off a car in a season due to human error, you have to forget about it. It’s just one of those things and at the end of the day, s**t happens sometimes.
“The second time it happens you think ‘hang on, something’s not right here.’
“The cost and the effect it has on our chances of scoring points is one thing but what about the dangers to the driver and other people? Nobody ever mentions that.
“I know I could go on about it but we have a good car this season and I’ve run out of excuses for things like this,” he adds.
“‘He crashed again Guenther?’ the board will say. ‘What’s the point of having a good car when you don’t score any points and keep wrecking them?’
“What can I say to that? Nothing. Having a good car quickly turned into a double-edged sword for me and one of the main reasons for this is that we keep on foking wrecking them, or should I say one driver does.
“The driver who hasn’t scored any points yet and who is one of only two left on the grid right now.”
Schumacher did show an upturn in form following that crash, going on to score points in Austria and Great Britain.
However, the final straw for Steiner seemed to come in Japan when Schumacher crashed again after the chequered flag in practice.
“It happened on the foking in-lap! On the in-lap!” the Haas chief remarked.
“Sure, it was very wet out there on the track, but nobody else managed to write off a car while they were driving back to the pits.
Mick Schumacher crash in FP1#F1 #JapaneseGP ?? pic.twitter.com/jJQL5vGxGP
— f1 lovin’ it ? ♥ (@f1lovinit) October 7, 2022
“We lose a car after five minutes and now have to build another. I cannot have a driver who I am not confident can take a car around safely on a slow lap.
“It’s just foking ridiculous. How many people could we employ with $700,000? And I have to now find that money.”
The Italian was also struck but what he saw as a lack of acknowledgement by Schumacher about the impact of his crashes.
“I’m not saying that nobody else at the team makes mistakes. We all do. This isn’t good enough though,” Steiner argued.
“Mick seems unable to appreciate the gravity of the situation at least publicly, which is also worrying.
“He talks like it’s just one of those things and there is no fault anywhere. If you fok up, admit that you foked up, apologise and then try and improve.
“That’s what he needs to do. Although I’d prefer it if he just stopped crashing.
“Mick’s excuse for the crash [in Monaco] was that in order for him to go faster, he has to take bigger risks and this is one of the occasions when taking a bigger risk didn’t work out. That might be a reason for the crash but it’s not an excuse.
“What does he want? Permission for me to carry on taking risks during races that he can’t cope with? He may as well ask me for permission to drive!
“That’s his judgement, not mine. I’m not the one driving the car. How far a driver can push a car depends on their talent and their ability and it’s Mick’s responsibility to know where to draw the line.
“He’s an F1 driver for God’s sake, he’s at the pinnacle of motorsport.”
