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“Has to be Something Personal”: Schumacher Family Lash Out at Guenther Steiner For Inexplicable Behavior Towards Mick

Published 11/15/2022, 12:15 PM EST

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via Reuters

With just one more race to go in the current season, Mick Schumacher’s seat at Haas for the next season seems like a no-go. Recently, his uncle and former racing driver, Ralf Schumacher, gave his thoughts on the subject. He believes the decision feels rather ‘personal.’ With all the drama brewing behind the Mick- Haas seat debate, Ralf has stepped in defense of his nephew

Mick Schumacher has been showcasing consistent improvements in his driving skills this season. Having bagged his first F1 points this season by finishing P8 and P6 in consecutive races, Mick was praised for his growth in the sport.

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However, with his lack of points in the championship, Haas believes Mick hasn’t earned his seat for the upcoming season. Moreover, the young German has crashed his car a couple of times this season, costing the team some big bucks, and that has surely not helped his case either.

But now, there might be a new twist in the story. Ralf Schumacher came forward to express his feelings and as per him, there might be a personal agenda against his nephew.

In an interview with Sky Deutschland, reflecting on Mick’s journey with Haas, Ralf said, “I see it as difficult for Haas to choose Mick. Otherwise, they would have done it long ago. I think the interaction in the team and the openness of Guenther Steiner–I’ll call it that politely–doesn’t necessarily speak positively.”

Analyzing the reasons behind such a conflict with Haas, Ralf continued, “This behavior cannot be explained with normal standards. It almost has to be something personal.”

“I believe that Guenther Steiner cannot deal with the fact that someone else is the focus at Haas. He’s very, very happy to be the one front and center,” he said, in conclusion.

Ralf also shed light on the environment at Haas and believes that it causes hindrance to Mick’s driving performance.

Ralf Schumacher claims Haas has Mick Schumacher walking on eggshells

Further delving into the matter, Ralf Schumacher stated that Mick Schumacher isn’t in the best environment to thrive and grow into a good driver. He believes that the way things at Haas have been, in regard to Mick, is rather unfair.

via Reuters

He claimed that Mick was under tremendous amounts of stress as he wasn’t allowed to make a single mistake. That kind of stress adds to creating this sense of fear of losing the seat, which then leads to the inability to drive freely, ultimately resulting in poor driving performance.

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Ralf emphasizes that the team should rather motivate its employees, which in turn increases morale, and therefore, gets them better results.

Must Mick lose his seat at Haas, he will be looking at taking up third driver roles with Mercedes or Alpine, who do seem interested, according to reports.

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Watch This Story: F1 drivers congratulating George Russell for his first  ever win at Sao Paulo Grand Prix

What is your take on Mick Schumacher’s seat dilemma? Does he deserve a better car? Or he still has himself to prove?

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Written by:

Nida Chakraborty

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Nida Chakraborty is a Formula 1 Author at EssentiallySports. After completing her undergrad from St Xavier's College with a degree in Psychology, she had gone on to take up multiple journalistic ventures in Radio and Television. Not only has she been a producer for Fever 104 FM, one of India's leading FM radio stations, but she has also worked for MTV and Channel V.
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Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh