‘It will mean something if Schumacher beats Magnussen’

Taking on the experienced Kevin Magnussen, Guenther Steiner says if Mick Schumacher gets the better of the Dane that “means something”.

This season Schumacher has a new team-mate, Magnussen returning to the Haas team.

Although Nikita Mazepin was signed to Haas for a second season, the Russian driver and his sponsor Uralkali in the mix for 2022, both were axed last Saturday as Haas cut with its Russian connections.

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Four days later Haas announced that Magnussen, who had left the team after the 2020 season, had been signed as Mazepin’s replacement.

That means instead of fielding two drivers both in their second seasons, Haas will have one experienced man behind the wheel and that, Steiner says, is good for Schumacher.

“I think Mick is happy to have somebody to learn from and to have a benchmark,” he told Reuters. “We can see where he is and also he can improve.

“It’s a benefit for him as well because (he has) an experienced driver looking at data, (he will be) working with somebody who knows this car from driving very similar cars for six years. It’s very good.”

BREAKING: K-Mag is back!

Kevin Magnussen will race for @HaasF1Team alongside Mick Schumacher in 2022#F1 @KevinMagnussen pic.twitter.com/wMiTAAs85U

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 9, 2022

Magnussen raced for both McLaren and Renault before joining Haas for his first stint with the team in 2017.