Guenther Steiner dismissed the criticism of his blunt treatment of Mick Schumacher shown in the Formula 1: Drive to Survive series as things said "in the heat of the moment".
Schumacher's second – and ultimately final – season racing for Haas was one of the main storylines told by the fifth series of the Netflix show. As the German struggled to deliver the results expected of him, Steiner and team owner Gene Haas were shown being highly critical of the young racer.
After Schumacher's hefty crash in Saudi Arabia, Steiner is shown saying: "We give him a year to learn, what does he do on the second day? He f***ing destroys the car, just because the other guy is faster." Other comments from team members include referring to the racer as "a dead man walking" and suggesting that he is "in over his head".
