Sebastian Vettel Takes Veiled Dig at Haas Boss Guenther Steiner While Protecting F1 Godson Mick Schumacher

Sebastian Vettel is one of the closest individuals that Mick Schumacher has on the F1 grid. They share a mentor-mentee relationship on similar lines to what Vettel had with Mick’s father, Michael. Now, with Haas dropping Mick for 2023, the 2020 F2 champ is surely going to have a chat with his godfather Seb. Of course, the 4-time champion will support his protégé as he has reacted to question Haas’ team leadership.

As per Motorsport-Total.com, Vettel commented on Sky on the news of Mick Schumacher getting dropped by Haas. He said, “Of course, it’s bitter for him and I’m sorry in that sense. I think the team leadership at Haas is sometimes a bit difficult to understand.” [translated via Google]

Sebastian said that he feels Mick deserves a place on the F1 grid. Meanwhile, he also pointed out that Haas is not fully innocent in how things panned out with Mick in 2022. The 35-year-old hoped that Mick will come back stronger to return to the sport and get past this difficult phase of his career.

Vettel concluded, “I think and hope he gets a chance because he definitely has the potential.” Seb has been consistently mentoring Mick regarding his racing, given how Michael Schumacher mentored Seb in his early career.

Read More: “It’s a Real Shame”: Mick Schumacher Breaks Hearts With Salty Goodbye to F1 Grid as Haas Finally Shuts the Door on Schumacher Name

Haas announced their decision to part ways with Schumacher at the end of the season on the eve of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend. They later announced current Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg as Mick’s replacement for 2023. With a reserve driver role probable at Mercedes, Mick may still have an olive branch to save his F1 career.

Mick Schumacher – A Roller Coaster of a Season in 2022

The young German started the 2022 season with major crashes at Jeddah and Monaco. This was a major stimulus for Haas team boss Guenther Steiner to search for other experienced drivers. Because Mick wasn’t even scoring points like his veteran teammate Kevin Magnussen.

It took 9 races for Mick to get his first points in 2022 after a pointless 2021 season. He scored back-to-back points finishes at Silverstone and Austria. Though since then, the Haas car probably dropped pace relative to the rest of the teams.

Steiner believed that Mick was causing too much financial loss by consistently crashing. The American team shortlisted Antonio Giovinazzi and Nico Hulkenberg as potential replacements for their 2023 line-up. Mick drove cleanly in the latter part of the season, only to fail in convincing Haas for retaining him.

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It will be worth watching how the F2 champion copes with this tricky situation. Now we may still see Mick as a reserve driver around the paddock. What do you think? Should Mick go somewhere else to race or look for a 2024 return to F1?