Mick Schumacher, Haas, Hungaroring, 2021

Haas drivers’ crashes “getting too frequent and too heavy” – Steiner

2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner is concerned by the rising repair bill he faces following a series of crashes involving the team’s rookie drivers.

Mick Schumacher’s spin into a barrier at turn 11 during practice yesterday was the latest in a series of crashes for the pair. The damage could not be repaired in time for qualifying, meaning Schumacher start today’s race from last place.

Nikita Mazepin has also been involved in several crashes in the team’s other car. Steiner said the pair need to start taking more caution.

“You always plan [for] accidents, especially with rookie drivers,” he said. “But I think we have reached a point now where we have to work on it to have less accidents for the rest of the season.”

Yesterday’s crash was the second time Schumacher has failed to participate in qualifying after a shunt in final practice. He was also unable to qualify in Monaco. Schumacher also crashed in qualifying at Paul Ricard and during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

Mazepin crashed his car in the first race of the season in Bahrain. He also damaged it in practice at Baku and Imola, and the two drivers tangled with each other in the sprint qualifying race at Silverstone.

“Mick in the last five races had quite a few big ones,” Steiner observed. “If you have a spin or something like this that, that happens. But these accidents are quite heavy, it’s a lot of money and for no good reason. So we have to work on it to get better on that one.”

The rising cost of repairing the damage risks having implications for the team, Steiner added. “Obviously the budget is the budget and you need to stick to it or you’ll always have to have ideas how to get around it when you have these accidents.

“In the moment obviously we feel it, we can still deal with it, but soon we will be in a position where we need to find new ways to overcome this because they are getting a little bit too frequent and too heavy.”

Both Haas drivers are racing in Formula 1 for the first time this year. But Steiner says their inexperience doesn’t excuse the among of damage that has been done.

“By now we should know where we stand,” he said. “In FP3 you compromise yourself not taking part in the qualifying. The risk is always there because it’s only two hours away from when you finish FP3 to qualifying.

“So obviously we need to learn out of this or they need to learn out of this. We had a few and, it was okay, so we need to get better at this.”

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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

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17 comments on “Haas drivers’ crashes “getting too frequent and too heavy” – Steiner”

  1. Mazepin has got lots of critique (deservedly so) but I think Schumacher has done more damage so far. Mazepin has had more harmless spins while Schumacher having bigger crashes.

    1. Cause Schumacher is pushing harder on the limits of the car.
      This weekend he was always more than half a second quicker than Mazepin in every run.

      But the car seems to be unpredictable. I would not put too much blame on either of the drivers.
      Tough learning year.

    2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      1st August 2021, 9:27

      @bleu

      Mazepin has had more harmless spins while Schumacher having bigger crashes

      Mazespin – Schucrasher ;)

    3. @bleu both of them have had quite a few accidents, though I would say that Tsunoda is getting off rather lightly for the number of times he has crashed in practice and qualifying sessions.

      Tsunoda has crashed three times in qualifying (France, Baku and Imola), as well as crashing during FP2 in Monaco and FP1 in Hungary – between practice sessions and qualifying sessions, I think Tsunoda has crashed more times than either Schumacher or Mazepin.

      1. If I am not mistaken, anon, @bleu, @thegianthogweed, thegamer23, Tsunoda alone has actually crashed as more than both Haas drivers together and caused about as much damage for his team!

  2. From debut sixth to a shady title sponsor to the worst looking livery.

  3. Awkward team. Not sure what they are doing and why they are in F1. Steiner amusing but unsuccessful. All in all a waste of time and money it seems. This team needs a significant restructuring.

  4. Two relatively average rookies on a car that even Magnussen and Grosjean struggled with and no development at all. That car looks nasty to drive. What do you expect?

    1. That livery looks awful too.

  5. Well, duh…

  6. Next year Papa Mazepin buys the team, rename it Lada Racing and Haas goes back to what he does best: machine tools. and Steiner… oh well… Steiner….

    1. Yes famously Dmitry Mazepin owns AutoVAZ not *checks notes* Renault Groupe.

      1. But he would probably wait another year so that he can actually put the Russian flag on it officially instead of just doing it “by accident” @hazelsouthwell!

  7. I dunno, reading the way he puts it, it feels like he’s more inclined to throw his dirvers under the bus than accept there’s a potential issue with the car.

    That Haas has rarely looked stable to me, almost tip-toeing around corners compared to other cars. Has done for a couple of years. The first year or two of Hass it seemed like a solid, if middling car. But it’s gone downhill since. It’s rear end seems to have a tendency to ‘snap’ around, much like cars were doing at the beginning of this engine era as drivers and teams were getting used to the torque of the new engines, especially when accelerating out of corners.

    There’s only so much a driver can do when a cars rear snaps on them, perhaps even less so for a rookie.

  8. Make a driveable car and try putting an experienced head in it to develop it then, instead of chasing money.

    Going for two rookies was suicide.

    Mick’s having crashes because he’s getting somewhere near the limit. MAZ has just learnt how to keep it pointing the right way.

  9. As both Haas drivers are very rich, then they should not receive the sallary after big mistakes. The next year will answer all the questions – whether Haas team can build a solid car and whether their drivers are capable of big improvement. This year, I would say let them learn and crash if they have to.

  10. Hmmm..
    2022:
    ¿Putin F1 Racing? or ¿Alpha Ferrari 2?

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