Günther Steiner expected some accidents this year as part of the learning process for Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, but the list of repairs has not stopped growing during the first half of the season.
Haas it has become a team used to accidents and the additional cost of repairs. It was already like this in the stage of two veteran riders like Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in the team and it has increased after the arrival of two rookies like Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
In the case of Mick schumacherSome stand out like those that forced him to miss two qualifying sessions by accident: in Monaco and at the Hungaroring. In addition, the German also crashed in the classification of Paul Ricard and during the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, in Imola.
“These accidents are quite heavy, it is a lot of money and for no good reason”
For its part, Nikita mazepin he crashed his car in the first race of the season in Bahrain. It also damaged him in practice in Baku and Imola, with the two drivers touching each other in the sprint qualifying race at Silverstone.
“You always plan accidents, especially with rookie drivers. But I think hWe have reached a point where we have to work on it to have fewer accidents for the rest of the season, ”admits Günther Steiner.
«Mick in the last five races had quite big accidents. If you have a top or something, that happens. But these accidents are quite heavy, it is a lot of money and for no good reason. So we have to work on it to improve on that, ”emphasizes the director of Haas.
The budget rules
Haas is the team with the smallest budget on the grid and each accident is a serious blow to the aspirations of the American team, especially in a year in which the conception of the 2022 car overlaps, which is the result of a completely new technical regulation .
“Obviously, the budget is the budget and you have to stick to it or you will always have to look for ideas on how to get around it when these accidents arise. We can still deal with it, but we will soon be in a position where we need to find new ways to overcome this because they are becoming too frequent and too heavy ”, laments Steiner.
By now we should know where we are. In Free Practice 3 you agree not to participate in qualifying. The risk is always there because there are only two hours left until qualifying. So obviously we have to learn from this or they need to learn from this », concludes.
Haas is the only team on the grid that has yet to score points this season.