Steiner: 'Schumacher simply doesn't have enough experience'

According to Guenther Steiner, the main reason for replacing Mick Schumacher with Nico Hülkenberg is the experience Hülkenberg brings with him. The Haas team boss told assembled media including GPBlog that Hülkenberg's experience better suits the team's ambitions.

It had been in the air for some time but on Thursday it finally became official: Hülkenberg will return to Formula 1 at Schumacher's expense. The son of legendary driver Michael Schumacher made his debut in F1 at Haas in 2021 but could not really make a great impression. So after two seasons, the American racetrack chooses to replace him.

When asked what the main reason for the choice was, Steiner immediately had an answer ready: "Schumacher has too little experience in Formula 1. He has never been with any team other than ours. Nico has been with three or four teams before. He has this experience. It takes time to gain this experience and we don't have that time at the moment."

'We don't want to stay where we are now'

Indeed, Hülkenberg has been running in Formula 1 for a while. He made his debut at Williams in 2010, then drove successively for Force India (and again when it changed to Racing Point), Sauber and Renault. For the past two seasons, he has been a test driver for Aston Martin.

"We don't want to get stuck at where we are now, we want to get better," Steiner continued. "Schumacher simply does not have the experience Nico does and that is what we need right now to move the team forward."