Haas' order to rookies: Stay away from the barriers in Monaco!

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Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says his main instruction to Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin ahead of this week's Monaco GP will be to "stay out of the walls and off the barriers".

Formula 1 returns to the glitzy Principality after two years away following the race's cancellation in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And Haas returns no longer with a pair of seasoned racers but with a rookie duo vulnerable to the pitfalls of Monte Carlo's tight and twisty layout

Both Schumacher and Mazepin raced in Monaco in 2019 in a round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship but tackling the challenging course in an F1 car will be another difficult trial of the pair's skills.

Steiner's brief to his young chargers is to keep it clean from the outset and to gain experience.

©Haas

"Regarding the briefing – stay out of the walls and off the barriers, that’s what we’ll let them know," warned the Italian.

"Once you’re in the barriers in Monaco, your session is lost. You cannot get the car back and it’s normally pretty damaged anyway.

"The challenge is big. It’s a very tight circuit, it’s obviously a street circuit, and you’ve got lots of people watching – everything you don’t want on a race like this.

"On the other side, you do want it though, that’s why we’re doing it.

"There should be little pressure on the drivers there as we know our performance. They should be looking at the race just to gain experience so when they return with a better car they’ll have learned how to deal with Monaco – which is obviously a very special race in the Formula 1 calendar."

Read also: Brawn impressed with 'demonstration of potential' by Schumacher

Steiner insists that both drivers are slowly but surely settling in and improving their working relationship with their fellow team members.

"At the moment we’re very happy with how they’re getting along with the team," said the Haas team principal.

"You can always get better, but we’re at a very good point, and the relationships with the people they work directly with are improving – they’ve started off on a good foot and it’s just a work in progress.

"There are a lot of people working in a Formula 1 team and the drivers need to get to know them better, especially the people that work directly with them. Up to now though it’s been very positive progress."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.