“It’s not that Mick Schumacher did a bad job,” Guenther Steiner explains how Nico Hulkenberg helps Haas achieve their goals

The reaction to Haas replacing Nico Hulkenberg with Mick Schumacher was rather mixed. Recently, Guenther Steiner explained the reasons behind the team's decision.


“It’s not that Mick Schumacher did a bad job,” Guenther Steiner explains how Nico Hulkenberg helps Haas achieve their goals

Guenther Steiner (L) | Nico Hulkenberg (R)

Haas decided Nico Hulkenberg was the right man for them and chose to let go of Mick Schumacher after his second season. Not everyone agreed with this decision. It was rather curious how they chose to go with the much older Hulkenberg over someone like Schumacher, who people felt is a better long-term option.

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But clearly, the older man possesses what Haas desire – experience. It’s obvious that ‘Hulk’ is a far more tenured driver than Schumacher. He has driven 10 full seasons in his career, compared to Schumacher’s two. He will never lose that, even if has been forced to sit out Formula 1 for three years. One of Haas’ targets is definitely ‘midfield consistency’, and Guenther Steiner thinks Hulkenberg will help them achieve that.

When asked how Hulkenberg will help Haas reach their goals in an interview with Speedcafe.com, the Italian-born team principal said: “It’s not that Mick Schumacher did a bad job. It’s just that he drove two years in F1, and for the team, we have still got weak spots in the team. And I always say: ‘We need to get better everywhere.’, and we need help to get better. If we need to help a driver get better, that takes the focus off what we need to get better as a team.”

So, the team wanted an experienced driver. While acknowledging that Hulkenberg hasn’t driven a regular season in F1 since 2019, Steiner said: “When you look at Nico’s career, he was always in midfield teams – and always, they made a step forward. Because I think he knows exactly what needs to be done to make the team better.” Haas’ current goal is to be on top of the midfield, and Steiner feels: “Having Nico on board with Kevin will help us achieve this position faster.”

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Related: “I hope in the future we will see even a better Kevin,” Guenther Steiner discusses the ups and downs of Haas’ and a ‘matured’ Kevin Magnussen’s season

Guenther Steiner: No negatives to MoneyGram sponsorship

Guenther Steiner
Guenther Steiner

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Haas swiftly chose to terminate their deals with Uralkali and Nikita Mazepin. This meant they ran the entirety of the 2022 F1 campaign without a title sponsor. Even if Guenther Steiner asserts that the absence of a title sponsor did not have any impact on them during the season, the MoneyGram deal is still going to be quite a boost for the team. He has previously said that it allows Haas to actually reach the budget cap now, but there’s more.

When asked how important the MoneyGram sponsorship is for the team, Steiner first explained that the deal is ‘fantastic’, and the interest of a ‘very solid’ company like MoneyGram in getting into F1 just shows how good the sport is. On what the sponsorship actually gives Haas, he said: “It shows to our fans and employees that Haas is here to stay because last year there were always questions: ‘Is Haas dipping around?’. I think we are now one of the most solid teams in the paddock, you know, with the other ones. There are 10 solid teams now, and Haas is one of them.”

Steiner also says that the fact that MoneyGram chose Haas is a recognition of the work being done by the team: “So it’s very good having a partner like this, and also it’s a recognition of what you are doing. They chose to go with us, and MoneyGram is a solid company so all in all, there’s no negatives to [the deal] – it’s just positives.”

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Now that they can actually reach the budget cap, it’ll be interesting to see how Haas fare with their new sponsorship. This, and how Nico Hulkenberg does on his return will be keenly followed, especially in Germany. Now that we are going into the second year of new regulations, the field should bunch up more, which is certain to help Haas and other teams towards the bottom of the pack.

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