Mick Schumacher is driving in Formula 1 this year. He will compete for the Haas team, headed by the unmistakable team boss Günther Steiner.
Haas F1 is the youngest team in Formula 1, the US team has been with it since 2016. Founder and owner is the US entrepreneur Gene Haas. The racing team is a Ferrari customer and is supplied by the Italians with, for example, engine, gearbox and other components. Gene Haas has long been active in motorsport, with a team in the NASCAR series since 2002.
The face of the team is without question the team boss. Günther Steiner has entertained Netflix fans with his authentic, gnarled manner since the first season of the Formula 1 documentary “Drive to survive”. This made him a cult figure. Without question, he is one of those guys that professional motorsport often screams for.
Steiner says what he thinks. Often uncensored. This sometimes ends in ranting, it is in a sterile PR world that (not only) motorsport has become, but a beneficial exception. And an amusing one too. He wears his heart and his whims on his tongue. He’s the show’s secret star. The South Tyrolean does not hold back with strong expressions, at the command post, on the radio, on the phone with team owner Gene Haas. Funny. Honest.
The Twitter account @BanterSteiner (Banter: Scherz, Teasing) does not belong to Steiner, but almost 50,000 followers, including, for example, McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris or Mika Häkkinen, enjoy all sorts of ranting. Incidentally, Steiner himself too. “I don’t have my own account and I don’t need one,” he once said. “For myself it would probably end up insulting people and then receiving complaints. I’d rather leave that to the fake guy. “
Haas can also be summed up in one race: In Australia 2018, Grosjean and Magnussen were in the top group when the wheels of both cars were not fitted correctly at the stops: double failure instead of double success. Steiner on the phone to team owner Haas: “Gene, when we finish fourth and fifth here, we look like cool rock stars. Now we look like damn fools, like damn clowns! “
The team gained notoriety last year in Bahrain when the Grosjean car flew at over 220 km / h, crashed into the guardrail and went up in flames. The pictures of the French, as he climbs out of the hell of fire, went around the world. He got away with comparatively minor injuries.
When it comes to drivers, Haas has relied on consistency in the past. Grosjean has raced for the team every season since debut, with Kevin Magnussen joining in 2017. Both made for the best season in 2018, when Haas finished fifth in the constructors’ championship. Since then, Haas has been in crisis mode, was penultimate in 2019 and only scored three measly points in 2020, by far the worst yield so far.
Steiner does not allow himself to be discouraged: “I am not giving up. Life doesn’t always go up. Sometimes you have to bottom out. ” Like all smaller teams, they are relying on the new 2022 regulations. Steiner: “This is an opportunity for small teams like ours, a very good opportunity. That’s why I focus on the positive. “
For Mick Schumacher the positive is that he can develop in peace with a team like Haas, expectations remain within reasonable limits. The negative: Since not much has changed in the regulations, Haas will also have the known problems in 2021 and therefore little chance of highlights.
For Schumacher, there is no experienced team-mate, but the Russian Nikita Mazepin, because the 21-year-old brings a lot of money thanks to his father, who is a billionaire. “Of course there is a risk that newcomers will make too little of the existing data. But we are there to help you. The advantage is that you can point them in a certain direction of development and that they also have the chance to grow with the team, ”says Steiner.
Provisional Formula 1 calendar 2021
2-4 March: Winter testing in Barcelona, Spain
March 21: Melbourne, Australia
March 28: Sakhir, Bahrain
April 11th: Shanghai, China
April 25th: venue still open
Alternative
12-14 March: Winter testing in Sakhir, Bahrain
March 28: Sakhir, Bahrain
11. April: Portimão, Portugal
25. April: Imola, Italien
21. November: Melbourne, Australien
Another planned program of the FIA
09. May: Barcelona, Spain
23. Never: Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 6th: Baku, Azerbaijan
13. June: Montreal, Canada
June 27: Le Castellet, France
July 4th: Spielberg, Austria
July 18th: Silverstone, Great Britain
August 01: Budapest, Hungary
August 29th: Spa, Belgium
September 5th: Zandvoort, Netherlands
12. September: Monza, Italien
September 26: Sochi, Russia
October 03: Singapore, Singapore
October 10: Suzuka, Japan
October 24: Austin, USA
October 31: Mexico City, Mexico
14. November: São Paulo, Brasilien
November 28th: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
05. Dezember: Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi
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