Steiner not critical of Schumacher’s ’cautious’ approach

Gunther Steiner says he will not try to stop Mick Schumacher from being so "cautious" as he begins his Formula 1 career with Haas this season.

While Nikita Mazepin has been under fire for his off-track antics and on-track incidents, fellow rookie and teammate Schumacher is taking a much more measured approach to 2021.

Told that the 22-year-old German is often "very reserved" in his demeanour, team boss Steiner told Auto Motor und Sport: "I think that will subside over time.

"He has made the decision that he wants to do it this way and I don’t want to talk him out of it. Otherwise you create something that he is not.

"He just prefers to be a little more cautious before stepping into any faux pas," Steiner added.

When asked if F1 legend Michael Schumacher’s son is just as cautious behind closed doors as he is publicly, he insisted: "He can also be demanding if he has to be.

"But he is always correct and polite. He already knows what he wants. Nikita is of course a little different in this way. Both come from different cultures and they just grew up differently. But that doesn’t mean that Nikita is wrong.

"It’s just up to us to be able to deal with the different characters," Steiner added.

"We don’t need puppets here - we need real characters and I can handle that. There is no right or wrong and I don’t like one of them more than the other."