Guenther Steiner claims he wanted Ralf Schumacher’s ‘blood’ during 2022 fallout

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There is not a lot of love lost between Guenther Steiner and Ralf Schumacher after their war of words throughout the 2022 season.

Steiner was often at the receiving end of Schumacher’s rants, which were directed at the former Haas boss due to the situation with Mick Schumacher during the season.

Schumacher was underperforming and making a lot of costly mistakes, which led to criticism from Steiner. The Austrian has spoken candidly about where it went wrong for the 25-year-old, blaming the media for the intense scrutiny Schumacher faced in the latter part of his career.

Discussing his relationship with Ralf Schumacher in his new book, Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1, Steiner reflects on the war of words between the pair.

Guenther Steiner wanted the ‘blood’ of Ralf Schumacher

Ralf Schumacher has accused Steiner of not wanting Mick to return to F1, while also being highly critical of his comments made in 2021 after a series of crashes.

Steiner believes that he should have ‘risen above’ the whole saga and not got into a war of words with Schumacher, but admits that he wanted to have his ‘blood’ when he criticised his leadership at Haas.

“It was around this time that my well-known war of words with Mick’s uncle Ralf started. You remember that? It’s got more headlines than some of the f—– races back then. He and I have since buried the hatchet, but I don’t mind admitting that the timing of Ralf’s outbursts could not have been worse,” wrote Steiner.

“It made what had started to become a difficult relationship even worse and helped to drive a wedge between myself and Mick. With hindsight, as the principal of the team, I should have risen above this, but I did not.

“That is one of the many things I would change, as well as kicking Ralf’s a— down the paddock instead of just thinking about it! In 2022 I wanted his blood.”

Mick Schumacher posts cryptic social media message

It is looking unlikely that Mick Schumacher will secure a seat soon on the F1 grid, after Sauber confirmed Gabriele Bortoleto for the 2025 season alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

Mattia Binotto reported did not want to hire Schumacher because he felt that having two Germans in the team would be ‘too many’ ahead of their takeover from Audi.

READ MORE: Who is F1 reserve and Alpine WEC star Mick Schumacher? Everything to know

Taking to social media, Schumacher posted a cryptic message which claimed that he intended to bounce back from ‘setbacks’ and will learn from his challenges.

Schumacher was always going to face a lot of scrutiny compared to other rookies when he joined F1 because of his name, but it appears his lack of consistency and testing times were not spectacular enough to warrant a decision over an upcoming talent such as Bortoleto.