Guenther Steiner regrets not 'kicking Ralf Schumacher's a** down the paddock' during his stint as Haas team principal

Guenther Steiner and Ralf Schumacher's strained relationship is well known across the F1 paddock. In his book Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1, which was published in October this year, Steiner mentioned regretting not kicking Schumacher's a** back in 2022.

Steiner and Schumacher's hostility began after the former sacked Mick Schumacher at the end of the 2022 season. Steiner was then the team principal of Haas and was unhappy with the German driver's performance. As a result, he sacked the 25-year-old at the end of the year.

Following the dismissal, Ralf Schumacher strongly criticized the Italian-American former boss which later prompted a war of words between the duo. Ralf Schumacher also claimed that if Mick's father, Michael Schumacher was around, Guenther Steiner would have acted differently.

However, Steiner, in his book, 'Unfiltered: My Incredible Decade in Formula 1’ claimed that while he and Schumacher have settled their differences, he regrets not kicking the latter in the a**. (as quoted by PlanetF1):

“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," Steiner wrote. “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," he added.

Interestingly, their stand-off again came to the forefront after Guenther Steiner signed with German broadcaster RTL for select races for the 2024 season. Ralf Schumacher was already associated with RTL before Steiner's arrival and he reportedly declined to have joint appearances on camera.

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Guenther Steiner has 'no bad feelings' against Haas

Speaking to the SkySports F1 podcast this week, Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner said he holds no grudge against the American team. Steiner was sacked in January this year by Gene Haas, the owner of the Kannapolis-based outfit, citing on-track performances.

AUSTIN, TX - OCTOBER 18: Former Haas principal Guenther Steiner - Source: Getty Images

"I have no bad feelings against the team,” Steiner told the Sky Sports F1 podcast (as quoted by F1i.com). "I should have left in the middle of 2022. It started afterwards to get difficult. You understand when you are gone. When you are in it, you have tunnel vision: 'I need to do this'. You never think about why the hell am I doing this, it doesn’t make sense."

The Italian-American engineer has been at the helm of Haas since its inception in 2016. Haas appointed Ayao Komatsu as its team principal this season.