Steiner: Tricky situation for Schumacher at the moment

The son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher ticked all the boxes during his junior career, Formula 3 and Formula 2 Champion, he stepped up on merit. Ferrari erred gravely by placing him with Haas last year for his rookie season, with a woeful car and Nikita Mazepin as a teammate, we reported at the time the whole concept had 'bad decision' written all over it.

The logic at the time was for Ferrari to place Mick alongside Kimi Raikkonen and shift Antonio Giovinazzi to Haas for his last chance to stay in F1; it was so obvious at the time, and even more so now, that it needs no explanation.

We know what last year was for Mick and Haas: a waste of a rookie season.

And guess what? To take make it totally absurd, there is talk of Giovinazzi getting the nod from Ferrari for an F1 return in 2023 is wafting through the paddock.

While last year was a write-off for Mick, this season, with Mazepin out of the picture, in came veteran Kevin Magnussen who, despite the late last-minute call-up to return to F1, with the American team, and inevitable rustiness of a year out of the top flight, is a proper benchmark who has pulverised incident-prone Schumacher in the same car.

This is not some anti-Mick spin but rather in the words of team principal Guenther Steiner who told Motorsport Network: “For sure, it's a tricky situation for him at the moment and for the team as well."

Schumacher finished 14th at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, an underwhelming performance as he could ill-afford another prang.

Steiner saw the positives in his young driver's underwhelming performance in Baku last Sunday: "He did the right thing, because if he had wrecked again, I mean, that would not be good."

But that has not stopped mounting speculation that Mick may be on his way out at Haas, some suggesting if Sebastian Vettel retires, Schumacher junior will get the Aston Martin drive. All exacerbated by a rumoured fall-out between Steiner and the 23-year-old.

Of the apparent split, widely reported in German media, Steiner said: "It was played up that we don't talk to each other. We laugh about it, nobody but the two of us knows what our relationship really is. But everyone has an opinion on it."

The Haas team boss sympathises with Schumacher: "It's not easy for him at the moment and then all these races come so close together, first in Baku, now here - after the crashes in Monte Carlo and Jeddah. The best thing is if he concentrates on not having an accident. That would damage his self-confidence even more but he knows that himself.

"When we then come to tracks where the crash barriers are a little further away, hopefully, he can hit back. But right now the most important thing is to drive clean and calm down."

Nevertheless, Steiner is keeping the faith: "I leave him pretty much alone in the races because he knows what he has to do himself. There is no point in setting him goals."

The team principal added that no decision about the team's 2023 driver line-up would be made before the summer break.

This weekend, Mick heads to Montreal for his first Canadian Grand Prix - a venue where his father Michael won seven times during his illustrious career.

While young Schumacher has yet to race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he has fond memories of the place thanks to travelling there with his father, during the latter's second-coming with Mercedes.

Mick recalled: "I’ve been to Montreal maybe once or twice as a child, aged 11 or 12. I remember it was fun to go and visit because it was so different to all the other race tracks I’d been to before and you have the groundhogs running around which is quite fun.

"As a kid, I was fishing out the back of the Mercedes garage and I actually caught a few – I built the hook myself from the office stationery – and eventually we bought a little fishing rod.

"I also remember asking if I could go onto the grid, and the team said only if I made a cake. I baked a cake, did the frosting and once I gave it to them, I got the grid pass! I have good memories from Canada."

A good showing this weekend, no bent metal and even points on Sunday will do wonders to Schumacher's shares and unravel the tricky situation he finds himself in, one and bit seasons into his career, where expectations are high, especially for the son of an F1 legend.