Mick Schumacher still has three races to convince the bosses of his Haas team that he is the right man for the coming season. And the 23-year-old follows this plan without hesitation. Because he doesn't deal with anything other than Formula 1.
According to Mick Schumacher, he is not currently considering an alternative to a regular cockpit in Formula 1 in the coming year. "No. Plan A is the only plan that counts for me at the moment and that I want to and will pursue," said the 23-year-old in Mexico City. His contract with the American Haas team is only valid for the next three races in Mexico on Sunday (9 p.m. in the live ticker on ntv.de), Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
As an encourager, he could tell his fans "that I will give everything for it. My best, day in and day out. That I am one hundred percent willing to work on myself, but also on the whole situation," said Schumacher. He added: "It's the only thing I have in my hands." A decision by team boss Günther Steiner and racing team owner Gene Haas after the race in Mexico and before the Grand Prix two weeks later in Brazil is possible. Steiner had said that the race-free weekend gave him the opportunity to do so. However, he has also emphasized several times that they do not want to be pushed.
The fact that Steiner and Haas publicly cited the two serious and costly accidents at Schumacher in the first half of the season in their personnel considerations simply had to be put up with, said Schumacher. "We're all at the limit here, and the same applies to us drivers: if we're not at the limit, we're behind very quickly. Then my situation would be completely different." He had severely demolished the car in Saudi Arabia and Monaco when it hit the track barrier.
At a media round before the race, he confessed that he didn't want to be distracted by the ongoing public debates. "I'm here to do my job and do it well," said Schumacher, which he could control himself. Meanwhile, a new cockpit speculation is causing a stir. Audi's entry into Sauber, which was announced on Wednesday, could open up new and attractive prospects for Schumacher in the medium term.
The team, which is currently competing under the name of the title sponsor Alfa Romeo, has assigned the cockpits for 2023 to Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. After a bridging year, however, Schumacher could replace the Chinese Zhou from 2024, gain important experience for two seasons and then start at the best racing driver age of 27 in the Audi factory team. So far, however, these are nothing more than theoretical considerations.
