"Mick's future will only be decided by Mick." Haas owner Gene Haas makes it clear that 23-year-old Schumacher must score points in the next few races in order to be able to compete in Formula 1 next season. Successors are already being discussed.
According to racing team owner Gene Haas, Mick Schumacher's Formula 1 future is solely in his own hands. "We want Mick to get a few points and we're trying to give him as much time as possible to see what he can do," Haas told the AP news agency at a Nascar race in Las Vegas, adding: " Mick's future will only be decided by Mick."
The 23-year-old Schumacher is only tied to the US racing team Haas until the end of the season. Contract talks for 2023 have so far been unsuccessful and the German is threatened with retirement after the next four races in the motorsport premier class. "If he wants to stay with us, he has to show us that he can still score. We're waiting for that," said 69-year-old Haas.
In his second Formula 1 season, Schumacher has only scored points twice in 18 races so far. With twelve points he is WM-16. "I think Mick has a lot of potential," said Haas, but also referred to some of Schumacher's accidents that cost his team a lot of money. Most recently in Japan, the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher made a driving mistake and ended up in the limit. The faux pas alone should have cost Haas half a million euros. That's money "that we simply don't have," emphasized Haas.
The owner also openly admitted that his racing team had already spoken to other drivers, but did not name any names. Germany's Nico Hulkenberg is said to be the first candidate if the team decides not to continue working with Schumacher. Haas left open exactly when a decision would be made. "If he wins the next race, he'll be there," American Haas said jokingly ahead of the team's home race next Sunday in Austin, Texas.
