F1: Steiner says Haas could no longer afford crash-happy Schumacher

–by Mark Cipolloni–

No one uses foul language in a way that makes you laugh like Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner.

His scenes in Netflix’s Drive to Survive are littered with four-letter words that have made him a fan favorite and an F1 legend, perhaps for all the wrong reasons.

In his new book, Steiner talks about why the team dropped Mick Schumacher after the 2022 season, because he cost the team $2 million in crash damage.

He describes one incident when  Schumacher crashed (again) after leaving the pits to perform a practice start in wet conditions at Suzuka.

In his forthcoming book, an extract of which was published last weekend by The Times, Steiner is quoted saying that crash alone cost the team $700,000 (£563,000).

“It happened on the foking in-lap,” says Steiner in his book. “On the in-lap! Sure, it was very wet out there on the track, but nobody else managed to write off a car while they were driving back to the pits.

“We lose a car after five minutes and now have to build another. I cannot have a driver who I am not confident can take a car around safely on a slow lap. It’s just foking ridiculous. How many people could we employ with $700,000?”