Mick Schumacher’s F1 future is reportedly at risk, but Guenther Steiner claims the German driver may still race for Haas.
The German driver’s future with Haas is uncertain since the American team has been slow to re-sign him for the upcoming season. Mick Schumacher’s contract with Haas ends at the end of the 2022 season.
Although Kevin Magnussen has a multi-year contract with Haas, it is unknown who his teammate for 2023 will be.
Early in the season, Schumacher’s place in the squad appeared to be in jeopardy due to tensions in the Haas camp as Magnussen had several points finishes while Schumacher struggled to maximize the potential of the car.
Schumacher has made a significant improvement, though, thanks to his competitiveness in the middle of the season. After earning his first points with an eighth-place finish at Silverstone, the German went on to finish sixth in Austria.
Although Schumacher drove his Haas to eighth place in qualifying at Zandvoort before having pit stop issues push him down the order in the race as Haas has been off the pace for the last four race weekends.
When compared to Magnussen, Schumacher has been in better shape, and team principal Guenther Steiner has confirmed that Schumacher is still a contender for the 2023 Haas seat.
Antonio Giovinazzi, a former Alfa Romeo racer, and Daniel Ricciardo, a former McLaren driver who was recently fired, are two potential contenders for Schumacher’s seat with the team.
“We are waiting, we are looking at everything and talking with Mr Haas quite a lot about it, but we haven’t made a decision,” Steiner told media in Zandvoort. “I will not give you a date when the decision is made because that will be your next question. We will give ourselves time.”
“What we want to make sure of is that we don’t make a quick decision and then regret it next year… We want to take the time we have available to try to get the best decision.”
“If it’s right or not we will find out only next year, but at least we prepare ourselves to make the best decision. So no decision has been taken.”
“A lot of people have talked to us. Mick as well is still in the running because that will be the next question. So in the end, we just go through the motions and we want to wait a few more races.
“Also, how Mick is doing? Mick did a very good job in Canada, Austria and Silverstone and since then the car was not at par… As I said, we are in no hurry to do anything at the moment.”
Steiner was questioned about Schumacher’s rate of driver growth over the course of those two seasons, as the 2020 Formula 2 champion is currently in his second year with Haas.
“I said it before, he has done some very good races,” he said. “The races were very good… I think he impressed everybody.”
“But we need consistency as well and we need to see also how we can take the team forward. We don’t want to stay with the status quo. We want to take it forward. That’s the aim, that’s what we need to do.”
When explicitly questioned about why Haas has not yet made a commitment to Schumacher for 2023, Steiner responded that the team is assessing what is the best solution.
“… Because we want to wait to see if that’s the best decision, for the team to re-sign Mick, as I said before, he’s in the same position as all the other drivers on the market,” Steiner said.
“We just want to try to make the best decision for the team’s future.”
“We don’t know yet what you’re looking for and this takes time. If we would know what you’re looking for, we would have made the decision.”
