Mercedes chief Toto Wolff claims Haas boss Guenther Steiner “would not have dared” to treat Mick Schumacher the way he did if the German’s father had been present.
Schumacher was dropped by Haas at the end of the 2022 season in favour of Nico Hulkenberg after two seasons with the team.
Steiner was highly critical of Schumacher’s performances during the early stages of the year as he failed to score points and endured two costly shunts.
But Wolff believes Steiner would not have been so hard on Mick if his legendary seven-time World Champion father had been around to support his son in the paddock.
Michael Schumacher hasn’t been seen since a skiing accident in December 2013 saw him suffer a severe head injury.
“I can only say that his parents did nothing wrong in bringing him up,” Wolff proclaimed to the Swiss German-language daily newspaper Blick.
“And I claim that if Michael had accompanied his son during the two Haas years, Steiner would not have dared to treat Mick like that!”
After his axe from Haas, Mercedes poached Schumacher to act as the team’s reserve driver for the year.
Schumacher has been seen in the Mercedes garage throughout all three rounds to take place so far in 2023 and Wolff has confirmed he would be chosen to drive the W14 car if either of the team’s two full-time drivers were unable to race.
Mercedes previously opted to place George Russell in the seat for a stand-in appearance over one of its reserve drivers when Lewis Hamilton was sidelined by Covid-19 at the end of 2020.
“This time Mick would drive,” he said. “I’m looking for the little one.
“If one of our drivers gets Covid or gets injured, Mick will be in the Mercedes! Period, end of discussion!”
Wolff has also revealed that Mercedes is aiming to get Schumacher a test in one of the German manufacturer’s previous generation of cars.
“We’re trying to get an old car ready for him as soon as possible.”
By joining Mercedes Mick has followed in his father’s footsteps after Michael made his F1 comeback with the Silver Arrows in 2010 during a three-year spell.
Although the elder Schumacher failed to record a 92nd victory in the sport, long-serving Mercedes employees have credited him with aiding the team’s eventual run to eight consecutive titles.
While a race seat with Mercedes is unlikely to materialise for Mick, Wolff has admitted that he would be prepared to let Schumacher leave if an opportunity arose for him to return to the full-time grid in 2024.
Schumacher’s current reserve role was previously filled by Nyck de Vries, who was let go to pursue a drive with the Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri outfit in F1 this season.
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