Guenther Steiner compares going with rookie and experienced drivers 

Guenther Steiner believes he has a better rapport with current Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen compared to the previous young driver line-up which featured Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher.

Speaking to Sportskeeda ahead of the Bahrain GP, the Haas team principal felt his unique rapport with the current driver duo made working with them easier.

Asked by Sportskeeda if it was a relief to have two experienced drivers in the team, Steiner said:

“The advantage of these two guys for me is that I know them most as a person and they know me. If you know somebody’s character, you know what you deal with than when you don’t know somebody. Also these guys a lot younger than me but they are almost generation older than Mick and Nikita, where I think that makes a difference as well."

He added:

"And in theory, I should cope with younger people, I cope with it but it’s a different relationship with these guys. And for example, with Nikita and Mick you know, it’s just a different relationship. I don’t know why, on some things you get along and something you dont. I get along with both Nikita and Mick as well but for some reason, for them, they see a different person in me than these two guys. And I know these two guys for pretty long.”

According to Gunther Steiner, he knows his current drivers much better on a personal level compared to Schumacher and Mazepin. Despite his seniority, the Italian believes he is able to get along better with Magnussen and Hulkenberg, who are older than the previous young driver duo in his team.

He feels knowing the Dane and the German for a long time makes it easier for them to understand him and vice-versa, which was not the case before. In the past, despite heated moments between him and Romain Grosjean, Steiner felt that age and maturity made a difference in understanding and working together.

Reminded of the heated moments with Grosjean, Steiner said:

“He knows me, I don’t mean it like this. He still speaks with me, I actually get on, we actually had a good time together. We still laugh about things. If he says something about me, I don’t get upset.”

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Guenther Steiner feels clean driving record of their current drivers is relieving

Guenther Steiner believes the experience and clean record of both Magnussen and Hulkenberg is good news for Haas, compared to their experience with Mazepin and Schumacher.

Citing Schumacher's record of crashes in both 2021 and 2022, the Italian pointed out that his former driver had already had three crashes by March 2022. Ralf Schumacher has previously accused Guenther Steiner of not treating his nephew Mick properly within the team.

Asked by Sportskeeda if having drivers without a crash record was a relief, Steiner said:

“Yeah. Absolutely, the experience that is why we took Nico because we need his experience. Mick already had three crashes by March last year and because he already had some the year before. So that was not in our plans to have this much crashes but it happened."

He added:

"But obviously in this position (with Hulkenberg and Magnussen), it is a lot more easier. They can still crash, we cannot say they will not but the chances as you say. If you look at their history, they are very two clean drivers. Obviously both of them have had crashes but it is not like it happened a lot with them.”

While Hulkenberg's last stint in F1 gave him the experience of working with mid-field teams, Magnussen has had a stint with Haas before and knows the team well.

For Schumacher, not only was his inconsistency a matter of concern, but his crashes cost the team heavily, given their shoestring budgets. The young German had heavy shunts in both 2021 and 2022, and the team eventually decided to replace him.

Last year, Magnussen scored the maximum number of points for the team and did most of the heavy lifting. In 2023, Guenther Steiner believes it is going to be much easier to achieve better results with their new lineup.