Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has aimed a sly dig at Haas team principal Guenther Steiner over his handling of Mick Schumacher.
Schumacher, the son of Formula One legend Michael, joined Mercedes for this season as a reserve driver after being dropped by Haas. The 24-year-old was with Haas for two seasons yet was let go following a series of high-profile mistakes, with the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg taking his place.
Steiner wrote in his book that Schumacher had cost Haas over £1.6million from big crashes in Saudi Arabia, Monaco and Japan. He is now working behind the scenes at Mercedes as a back-up to Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and Wolff has been delighted with his impact.
Speaking about Schumacher, he criticised the way he was treated as his previous employer. "I think teams are missing out, to be honest. I think he was burned last year," Wolff said at the Canadian Grand Prix.
"You need to give and provide an environment and framework that is different to every driver, we are all different human beings. And whoever gets him will have a very good pilot."
Schumacher has little chance of getting a seat for the 2024 season at Mercedes, with Russell having extended his contract and Hamilton in negotiations to do the same. Wolff is complimentary of his talents, but cannot force Mercedes customer teams Williams, McLaren or Aston Martin take him on.
"I'm not even sure that we can facilitate [a seat], because every time we speak highly of him, somebody feels to say something negative," Wolff said. "Wherever I can speak highly and praise Mick, that's what I'm doing.
"But at the end, it's every team's authority to decide on their drivers and I very much respect that. Our contracts with the teams, were never 'you have to take our junior driver', 'you have to take our reserve driver', because when I was at Williams, I also wanted to have my own choice."
Wolff has previously explained the situation for Schumacher. "It's a difficult situation because [Mercedes] is closed, and I would wish for Mick to get a seat, and he deserves it,” he said. “The situation in 2024 is unfavourable, in 2025 a few doors will open again, but we have to wait and see how things develop at Williams, so it's not easy.
"We have to be careful, because if we support Mick too much, then of course there are critics who would like to make things difficult who then come crawling out of the woodwork."
Schumacher will drive the Mercedes W02 car that was raced by his father at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month. He will take centre stage at the event between July 14 and 16, taking the wheel of the Mercedes W02 – a car his dad, Michael Schumacher, drove back in the 2011 season.
