“If he wants to stay with us”: Gene Haas reveals what the team requires of Mick Schumacher
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Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher’s future is full of uncertainty right now. He doesn’t have a contract for next year, and now it’s October, and his contract extension at Haas is still a near thing. Schumacher had started the year slowly, even if he has come into his own more now, his numerous crashes have cost the team a very large amount of money. The German seems to be on thin ice at Haas.
Recently, Gene Haas, owner of Haas F1, discussed Schumacher’s future. As he told the Associated Press, Schumacher Jr. must score points: “We’re just waiting. We need Mick to bring some points and we’re trying to give him as much time as possible to see what he can do. If he wants to stay with us, he’s got to show us that he can score some more points. That’s what we are waiting for.”
Haas, especially Kevin Magnussen, started the year with a bang. But then, after Imola, it all seemed to fade away. They did not score any points until the British Grand Prix and have scored none since the Austrian Grand Prix. Even Magnussen hasn’t had a sniff of the points. Regardless, it’s imperative for Schumacher to impress the team.
Gene Haas: Mick Schumacher has wrecked a lot of cars
Kevin Magnussen has had his own moments of ‘contact’ this season, with multiple black-and-orange flags for first-lap incidents. But Mick Schumacher’s crashes have arguably been much more damaging to the team – most notably so in Jeddah, Monaco, and most recently, in Japan.
On this subject, Gene Haas said the sport ‘doesn’t allow’ so many crashes, especially as a relative newcomer: “In this sport, being kind of a rookie driver, the sport just doesn’t allow it — it’s just too expensive. If you make any mistakes in driver selection, or strategy, or tire selection, it is costing you millions of dollars.”
Haas believes Schumacher has potential but has been very expensive: “I think Mick has got a lot of potential, but you know he costs a fortune and he’s wrecked a lot of cars that have cost us a lot of money that we just don’t have. Now, if you bring us some points, and you are (Max) Verstappen and you wreck cars, we’ll deal with it. But when you are in the back and you wreck cars, that’s very difficult.”
If Schumacher is let go, Guenther Steiner seems very interested in Daniel Ricciardo. But that is an unlikely move to happen, and Ricciardo looks more willing to sit out 2023 than drive for a team lower in the standings. Nico Hulkenberg has also been linked with the seat.
Also Read: Mick Schumacher reportedly in negotiations with Haas for 2023 contract extension
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)