Steiner learned of Schumacher's F1 seat issue via his mother

Schumacher revealed ahead of this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix that he has been driving in an offset seating position so far during his rookie F1 season. 

The German asked Sebastian Vettel to check his Haas F1 car in parc ferme immediately after the French Grand Prix to show him his “crooked” seat, something that was caught on his onboard camera footage. 

Speaking on Friday in Austria, Steiner said he only found out about the ill-fitting seat during a conversation with Schumacher’s mother, Corinna, at Paul Ricard. 

“The first time I found out his mum told me in France, that there was something up with the seat,” Steiner explained. 

“I said, 'I'm not aware of it’. Then I think it's another thing which has just escalated because I would say he wants to make a new seat. But he said it himself, I think it was yesterday, that there is no urgency.

“I think he's not completely straight, which means maybe there is some pressure or something. But he's not sitting at 45 degrees, so his body's not completely twisted, or the car is not straight.

"Because Sebastian looked in the car it was made a big story out of it, which I'm fine with. But I wasn't even aware until his mum told me about that, so it cannot be this bad. We will make him a seat as soon as he wants one, and when he thinks we are in the right position to do so.”

Schumacher stressed the problem was not a major issue and confirmed his team has plans in place to change the seat in the near future.

“It’s not as bad as maybe some might think,” he added. “It’s a small offset, something that I’ve been used to also in junior categories. And to be fair, it doesn’t harm me in any way when driving.

“It is something that for us is a secondary concern. It is mostly about trying to get everything ready for the weekend and being prepared on that level and maybe setting our focus on something else instead of wasting it on something that is maybe not affecting me right now.

“But it’s something that is in plan, and we’ll for sure after the summer break come back with something that might be a bit more centred.

“We’ve been working on it in the beginning of the season quite a lot. We got to something which was comfortable enough for me to keep going. So, we left it with that.”