10 March 2023 , 20:12
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Guenther Steiner dismissed the criticism of his blunt treatment of Mick Schumacher shown in the Formula 1: Drive to Survive series as things said "in the heat of the moment".
Schumacher's second – and ultimately final – season racing for Haas was one of the main storylines told by the fifth series of the Netflix show. As the German struggled to deliver the results expected of him, Steiner and team owner Gene Haas were shown being highly critical of the young racer.
After Schumacher's hefty crash in Saudi Arabia, Steiner is shown saying: "We give him a year to learn, what does he do on the second day? He f***ing destroys the car, just because the other guy is faster." Other comments from team members include referring to the racer as "a dead man walking" and suggesting that he is "in over his head".
Some fans, having watched the Netflix footage, felt the criticism went too far. But the Haas team principal has already defended his actions, telling RTL that it was "nothing out of the ordinary".
"We don't need to do bullying, because after all he was our driver," he said. "I can also absolutely understand Mick's fans. In the heat of the moment you sometimes say something that you might say differently an hour later, but that wasn't bullying at all."
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Steiner was asked about it again last weekend as the new Formula 1 season got under way in Bahrain. There, he told reporters that he was "not ashamed" of the things he said about Schumacher.
Mick Schumacher struggled to perform at Haas (Getty Images)He said: "I didn't watch it but I made the comment. In the heat of the moment I sometimes say things, but then you think back a few hours later. Obviously Drive to Survive shows the world the most tricky moments and that's what the show needs to do.
"I mean what was said was said, I didn't think it would make it, but it was decided not to take it out because we have nothing to hide. It is what it is – I'm not ashamed of it.
"As I said, I can explain it as in the heat of the moment in the races you say of things I wouldn't say now, for example. Things like this happen in racing so we shouldn't go too deep into it to analyse my mental state."