Guenther Steiner said he did not offer Mick Schumacher a reserve role at Haas as he believed it would have been “a bit cheap to ask him.”
After two years with the team, Schumacher was shown the door at Haas at the end of the 2022 season having failed to live up to the team’s expectations.
A series of expensive crashes and a lack of points to compensate prompted Haas to look elsewhere for 2023, bringing the veteran Nico Hulkenberg back into the sport after a four-year break with partner Kevin Magnussen.
While he will not be on the grid in a permanent capacity this season, Schumacher has landed on his feet as he secured a reserve role at Mercedes following Nyck de Vries’ departure to AlphaTauri.
Schumacher wants to get to honor his skills at not only his father’s last team in the sport but also one that is competing at the upper end of the grid.
When asked if Steiner had offered the same role to Schumacher at Haas, the 57-year-old revealed he had not, believing it would have been a cheap move to do so.
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“I didn’t ask him to be honest,” he told GPFans.com.
“It’s always difficult for somebody, if you have driven for a team, to then be relegated to reserve driver. I don’t think he would be happy with that.
“He didn’t approach me about that, and I didn’t want to [approach him about it].
“It’s a bit cheap to ask him, ‘We won’t let you drive the car, but would you like to be the reserve driver’.”
Despite not being a full-time driver, Schumacher is still a face that fans can expect to see plenty of with the German saying he was “99 percent sure” he would be at every race as he looks to secure a 2024 seat.
“I’m sure not going to drive anything else as of right now,” Schumacher told GPFans.
“I’m simply not interested in that.
“If you get the taste of the best there is, you’re not going to settle for anything else and so definitely I’ll be sticking around in the paddock.”
“I’m 99 percent sure that I’ll come to every race and yes, just be around and again, position myself into a place where hopefully in ’24 I’ll be back on the grid.”
Schumacher left Haas with a record of 12 points from 43 races having finished 16th in the 2022 Drivers’ Championship.
