Günther Steiner explains his comments about Mick Schumacher in 'Drive to Survive'

Back to 2022
The 2023 Formula One world championship started last weekend with the Bahrain GP, but even before this event, a well-known show that has become very popular among Formula 1 fans, such as Drive to Survive, released its latest season. The docu-series, now in its fifth season on Netflix, recently looked back at what happened in the last Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and more specifically during the qualifying session at the Jeddah Corniche circuit.

Günther Steiner vs. Mick Schumacher
On that occasion, former Ferrari Driver Academy Mick Schumacher, who left the Maranello Academy at the end of 2022, managed to access Q2 with his Haas, but during that session he was involved in a big crash by hitting the barriers. In addition to the decision of the Race Direction, which immediately suspended Q1, the damage suffered by the German proved to be very big and eventually the former Ferrari Driver Academy member was not able to take part in the race on Sunday.

The moment made Haas team principal Günther Steiner extremely angry, as the Italian motorsport also criticized the current Mercedes third driver on the occasion of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, during which he said about the young German driver that was being excessively slow.

The admission
The manager from Bolzano, who has repeatedly admitted not to be watching the Drive to Survive series (disputing the excessive adrenaline-fueled drama of some moments) acknowledged that he had made some comments in those circumstances, but that they in fact should not be considered as an indication of a difficult relationship between him and Mick Schumacher: “I don’t watch the show, but I remember the details of some comments – he explained to the media – which were expressed in the heat of the moment. Drive to Survive shows the worst moments of that day, and of course that’s what the show has to do. Whatever was said I can’t take it back, they decided not to remove it because we have nothing to hide. I’m not ashamed of it, but things were said that I wouldn’t say now. You don’t go too deep to analyze my mental state at that moment!“ – Günther Steiner explained.

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Nothing just for show
Recognized as one of the most eccentric characters by fans of the docu-series, Günther Steiner reiterated that he is not particularly worried about his image on the show, but rather is focusing on guaranteeing important results for Haas: “There is a team member who is watching the series – he added – but it’s very difficult for me to have an opinion about myself. I am not acting, and therefore I don’t judge whether I’ve acted well or badly. I do my job and I judge it on the basis of the results obtained in the race, not on what I imagine is good for us” – Günther Steiner concluded.