The month-long saga about the future of Mick Schumacher has come to an end. The race in Abu Dhabi will be the last for the Haas Formula 1 racing team. The US team separates from the 23-year-old. Another German pilot, Nico Hülkenberg, took over the vacated cockpit.
Now it's official: The Haas Formula 1 team will no longer rely on Mick Schumacher next season. This was announced by the US racing team. Schumacher's time as a regular driver in Formula 1 is almost certainly over for the time being. The 23-year-old will probably move into second place. The US team announced the end of the season split this morning. As expected, the team presented Schumacher's compatriot Nico Hülkenberg as his successor.
Schumacher's end at Haas had become apparent in the past few weeks, and the team bosses never made any commitment to him. On the contrary: Team boss Günther Steiner and racing team owner Gene Haas counted the youngster publicly, and blamed Schumacher for material damage worth millions in particular.
The German has had a number of serious accidents this season and completely dismantled his car in Saudi Arabia and Monaco. In the Drivers' Championship, Schumacher is 16th with twelve points before the season finale in Abu Dhabi. For comparison: Teammate Kevin Magnussen scored more than twice as many points and is ranked 13th. Schumacher combined his departure with a declaration of war: "It was sometimes bumpy , but I've steadily improved, learned a lot and now I know for sure: that I deserve a place in Formula 1. For me, the topic is anything but closed... My passion burns for Formula 1 and I'm going to fight hard for it fighting to get back on the grid."
While Schumacher's contract question at Haas became a stalemate, Steiner had confirmed a hot line to Hülkenberg in several interviews with RTL / ntv weeks ago. The 35-year-old drove his last season as a regular driver in 2019 (then for Renault), and in the following years he impressed several times as a last-minute replacement at Racing Point/Aston Martin. Most recently, Hülkenberg was also employed as a reserve driver by Aston Martin. Haas has now officially announced the expected return of the veteran. The Rhinelander was a regular driver in Formula 1 until 2020, in 181 races he collected 521 points, once he was on pole position.
"He jumps into the car as a reserve driver without any test kilometers, so to speak, into the cold water, and has always delivered. That speaks clearly for him," Red Bull Eminnez Helmut Marko recently praised the quality of Hülkenberg on RTL / ntv.
After his departure from Haas, Schumacher only has a mini chance of a regular cockpit for the 2023 F1 season. Logan Sargeant, who is set at Williams, still has to score the necessary points for the super license at the Formula 2 final in Abu Dhabi, the "Formula -1 driver's license", drive in. Actually a matter of form - but if the American doesn't make it, a door would open for Schumacher with the traditional British team. Williams boss Jost Capito had already described Schumacher as a "charming" option in an RTL/ntv interview at the beginning of October.
It is more likely, however, that Schumacher will move into the second rank and remain part of the paddock next year as a reserve and development driver. The 23-year-old could be accommodated at Mercedes. Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff recently "made no secret of the fact that the Schumacher family belongs to Mercedes and that we value Mick very much." If the opportunity arises, Mercedes would be open, according to Wolff. After his F1 comeback, Michael Schumacher drove for the Silver Arrows from 2010 to 2012.
For an engagement at Mercedes, however, Mick Schumacher would have to cut his relationship with Ferrari. In the traditional Italian team, with which father Michael became an F1 icon, Schumi jr. Part of the junior academy, since the beginning of this year also official substitute for the regular drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
