F1 News: Haas Announce Mick Schumacher Will Leave Team After This Season
We have been waiting a long time for Haas to announce what Mick Schumacher’s future will be with the team as they have been toying with whether to extend his contract or not for some time.
The American team have now revealed that they will not be extending Schumacher’s contract beyond the 2022 season, so the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend will be the young German driver’s last race with the team. We are yet to find out what Schumacher is planning to do next, however, rumours have been circulating over him having a reserve seat role for Mercedes.
When making the announcement, team principal Guenther Steiner said:
“I would like to thank Mick Schumacher for his contribution to the team over the past couple of years. 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. Whilst 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.”
This has not come as a huge surprise after Haas owner, Gene Haas, explained earlier in the season that Schumacher costs the team a lot with the amount of crashes he has. They also gave him an ultimatum saying he needed to score more points in order to keep his seat on the team, but then they seemed to go back on that anyway.
Schumacher’s uncle recently voiced his opinion on the situation, saying he thought it was something more personal.
Either way, the team are now looking ahead to the 2023 season with Kevin Magnussen, who took his first career pole position during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race on Friday. Joining Magnussen will be Nico Hulkenberg, who hasn’t driven in F1 since 2019.
