(Motorsports news) Mick Schumacher will leave the Haas Formula 1 team at the end of the season and his hopes of finding a seat at another team for 2023 are looking slim. The son of the former German great Michael Schumacher joined Haas in 2021 to race alongside Nikita Mazepin, having won the F2 championship the previous year. This year, he found a new teammate in Kevin Magnussen and Schumacher scored his first points at Silverstone with an eighth place finish, following that up with a brilliant sixth place finish the following race in Austria.
Since then it has gone downhill for him as he has failed to score many points and has contributed less than a third of Haas’s total points tally, with the American team eighth in the Constructors’ Championship. He has also had several big crashes which proved to be costly in terms of bringing upgrades to his car. As a result, Haas have opted not to keep him for a third season. As of now there is only one seat remaining for the 2023 season with the Williams team but that will most likely go to their academy driver Logan Sargeant provided he finishes in the top six in the standings in F2 and it looks like the American is in good shape to meet the criteria as he is 3rd in the World Championship. Haas confirmed that Schumacher will be replaced by the former Force India and Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg.
For Mick Schumacher it looks like he has to sit out the 2023 season but there are rumours that he could join Mercedes as a reserve driver. It could be a possibility since his father the great Micheal Schumacher raced for the Silver Arrows during the twilight of his career. Although with Russell and Hamilton set for a few years it looks like getting a seat at Mercedes AMG would be difficult for a few years. If someone as experienced as Daniel Ricciardo is seemingly willing to take a reserve driver role then there is no reason Mick should not consider it either. The benefits are that he will be able to practise driving a Formula 1 car and although it will not be in a race situation it will still give him much needed experience behind the wheel. His next option would be to wait it out until 2026 as Audi have made it clear they are interested in acquiring his services for their maiden entry but that would mean sitting out of the sport for 3 years
“I would like to thank Mick Schumacher for his contribution to the team over the past couple of years,” said Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner. “Mick’s pedigree in the junior categories was well known and he has continued to grow and develop as a driver in his time with Haas F1 Team – culminating in his first Formula 1 points-scoring successes earlier this season. While choosing to go in separate directions for the future, the entire team wishes Mick well for the next steps in his career path and beyond.”
In a statement on social media, meanwhile, Schumacher admitted his disappointment that his time with Haas was coming to an end “This is going to be my last race with Haas F1 Team. I don't want to hide the fact that I am very disappointed about the decision not to renew our contract,” he wrote. “Nevertheless, I would like to thank both Haas F1 and Ferrari for giving me this opportunity. Those years together have helped me to mature both technically and personally. And especially when things got difficult, I realised how much I love this sport. It was at times bumpy but I steadily improved, learned a lot and now know for sure that I deserve a place in Formula 1. The subject is anything but closed for me. Setbacks only make you stronger. My fire burns for Formula 1 and I will fight hard to return to the starting grid.”
“I feel like I never really left Formula One,” said Hülkenberg in a team statement ahead of Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to do what I love the most again … We have work ahead of us to be able to compete with all the other teams in the midfield, and I cannot wait to join that battle again.”
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