The announcement that Mick Schumacher would be leaving Haas F1 team was a surprise to many fans, and left them wondering why the young German driver had been let go so early. However, team principal Guenther Steiner and Nico Hulkenberg have now shed some light on the matter.
In an appearance on the Beyond The Grid podcast, Steiner discussed why the team chose to replace Schumacher with Hulkenberg. He revealed that while Mick had shown promise in his two races for Haas, the team ultimately decided that an experienced driver was needed in order for the team to grow faster.
“He can [become] a good driver, or he’s already a good driver, but he can get better,” Steiner said of Schumacher. “But how long does it take us? Because he’s growing with us, he cannot make us grow. We said, ‘How can we do that?’ He, unfortunately, does not have [what we need].”
Hulkenberg, who was selected as Schumacher’s replacement, offered his own thoughts on the matter to Auto Motor und Sport, saying that it wasn’t his decision and that the team had been fair in their evaluation of both drivers.
“In the end, the teams decide who drives the cars,” he said. “And they usually put in the people they think are best for the team. So it’s not my decision. As far as I know, it has all been very fair from the summer onwards. The team gave Mick a lot of time to prove himself.”
While Schumacher’s departure from Haas may come as a disappointment to some fans, it seems that the team had to make some tough decisions in order to continue to progress and improve their results. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that Mick is still young and has plenty of time to develop his skills further and return to Formula 1 in the future.
