The recent resurgence of the Haas Formula 1 team in 2024 is not necessarily attributable to the absence of former team boss Günther Steiner, according to Ralf Schumacher, who has often been a vocal critic of Steiner's tenure.
The American team, now led by ex-senior race engineer Ayao Komatsu, has shown marked improvement compared to its struggles under Steiner's leadership in previous years.
In 2021 and 2022, during Steiner's time as team principal, Ralf Schumacher's nephew, Mick Schumacher, drove for Haas. However, after a prolonged period of public criticism from Steiner, Mick was dropped from the team.
Last year, Haas finished at the very bottom of the constructors' standings. But this season, the team has made significant strides, currently outperforming Williams, Alpine, and Sauber, and sitting just a few points behind RB.
Reflecting on the team's transformation, Ralf Schumacher told formel1.de, "I don't want to say that Günther had so much influence that he was preventing or slowing down the process that we are seeing now. I think it's the core of the team – the technical group that makes the technical decisions – that has done a good job.
"Whether that also would have been the case with or without Steiner's strategy as team boss, I don't know. I can't judge that."
Schumacher pointed to Nico Hulkenberg's contributions as a significant factor in Haas' rise. Hulkenberg, who is set to join Audi-Sauber in 2025, will be replaced by rookie Oliver Bearman, who filled in for the banned Kevin Magnussen in Baku. "Nico is absolutely a qualifying beast, and I was a bit shocked when Bearman beat him in Baku," said the 49-year-old Schumacher.
"But I have to say that it has become a close-knit group, and they seem very determined."
Haas' 2024 performance boost has coincided with the announcement on Friday of a new technical partnership with Toyota.
