Guenther Steiner admits that he started to see a change in Mick Schumacher just before the Haas driver's recent run of points results. Schumacher scored his first points in F1 at the British Grand Prix by finishing P8. One week later, he looked to be in contention for another point at Saturday's Sprint in Austria. On this occasion, Schumacher missed out to Lewis Hamilton, but put in a determined drive in Sunday's race to end the day in P6, his best-ever result. Both weekends also marked double points finishes for Haas, with Schumacher's teammate Kevin Magnussen also adding to the team's tally.
Schumacher "more at peace with himself", says Steiner
Whilst Schumacher's first points came at Silverstone, Steiner felt that the German's attitude had started to shift at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks earlier. "I saw a little change in Canada," Steiner told the F1 Nation podcast. "I don't know why, I just saw he was a little bit more relaxed about things, and I think maybe [he had] more confidence. "From there onwards, he was just more at peace with himself. Maybe not pushing too hard, just trying to get the best out of the car [that] he could."
Nothing "sinister" behind what happened in Sprint
Schumacher was left frustrated after the Sprint at the Red Bull Ring, having felt that he had the pace to be in front of Magnussen ahead. When asked whether he expects to see this "feisty" side of Schumacher towards the end of the season, Steiner said: "I don't know. I think we managed it [at the Sprint] in the right way [for the team]. "For him, [he felt] it wasn't right. We explained to him why we did what we did, and there was nothing sinister behind it. "You saw [in the Grand Prix] when Kevin had an issue with his engine, we let Mick go because we [knew] that Kevin [did not have] 100 per cent power, so we let him go and he fought very well." Overall, Steiner was pleasantly surprised by the squad's success in Austria. "It's very good for the team," he explained. "We didn't think we'd finish this strongly. We knew that we were going good, but this strong is very good. "Especially after Silverstone, double points, [and] in the Sprint race [we scored] points, and [in the race] double points again is fantastic."
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