F1: What next for Mick Schumacher with Ferrari set to cut ties with Haas driver for 2023? Will he be on the grid?
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Updated 30/08/2022 at 13:00 GMT
Mick Schumacher comfortably beat Nikita Mazepin last year in his first season in Formula 1, but he was always going to face a much bigger test against Kevin Magnussen this year. It’s a test which Schumacher isn’t necessarily failing, but he’s not exactly passing with flying colours either. Will he sign a new contract with Haas? If not, where will he go and could he be out of F1 completely?
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Mick Schumacher is set to cut ties with Ferrari at the end of this year, leading to speculation about whether he will get pushed out from Haas too.
Schumacher has been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2019 but could be replaced by former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi.
Without doubt, his future is in doubt after failing to consistently impress this season against new team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
He’s 15th in the drivers’ championship, having scored points on just two occasions, with big accidents in Saudi Arabia and Monaco leading to team principal Guenther Steiner admitting he was frustrated with the German.
“With Mick we obviously saw what happened,” said Steiner after Monaco. “It’s not very satisfactory having a big crash again. We need to see how we move forward from here.”
Schumacher’s form has picked up since then as he qualified in sixth place in the rain in Canada, before his back-to-back points finishes in Silverstone and Spielberg.
Haas have developed their car very little this year, compared to every other team who are bringing upgrades nearly every race weekend.
This has made it difficult for Schumacher to stand out recently even though he is matching team-mate Magnussen on outright pace.
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Mick Schumacher
Image credit: Getty Images
However, it might not be enough and the driver who was seen by many to join F1 and drive for Ferrari further down the line like his famous father Michael.
The harsh reality of F1 means young Schumacher is fighting for his career already.
Could Schumacher stay at Haas?
It’s possible Haas may renew Schumacher’s contract and go for continuity into next year. After all, he hasn’t been a disaster, but nothing brilliant either.
When quizzed by Sky Sports at the Belgian Grand Prix what the situation is for Schumacher in 2023, Steiner said: “I don’t know, I don’t know anything about my second driver.
“We will answer it when we are ready to answer it, we will speak with Mr [Gene] Haas and decide.”
One of Schumacher’s traits during his junior career was a big improvement in the second half of the season and it does feel like he will need to start beating Magnussen consistently to secure his place at Haas.
Alpine? Williams? AlphaTauri?
If it’s not Haas, two seats which are potentially available are at Alpine and Williams.
Should the F1 Contract Recognition Board decide that Oscar Piastri have a valid contract to drive for McLaren next year, Alpine will need to find a driver to replace Fernando Alonso, since they have lost the Australian from their team.
It could provide Schumacher the opening he needs to stay on the grid. He’s very marketable for any team, thanks to his surname, but is he good enough for Alpine? That’s the big question and it’s more likely Daniel Ricciardo could return to Alpine instead because he has at least shown he can perform at the highest level, despite not doing so for the last two seasons.
Nicholas Latifi has been disappointing in 2022, prompting questions about his future at Williams.
But, team boss Jost Capito said in Spa that they would be “happy to continue with their driver pairing for next season” so there’s another seat taken which Schumacher may have been eyeing up.
It leaves us with AlphaTauri. Yuki Tsunoda has similarly made some silly mistakes this season so may be dropped, although the confirmation of Honda backing for Red Bull and AlphaTauri until 2025, could save the Japanese driver’s seat. This one could go either way.
Then there is Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman signed a new deal to stay with AlphaTauri for next year, but has been heavily linked to join Alpine and is currently the favourite to take Alonso’s seat.
An all-French driver line-up for a French team makes sense and Gasly is almost certainly never going to make a return to Red Bull after his six-month stint there in 2019 ended on bad terms.
It might be Schumacher’s last chance to stay in F1, if he can’t put pen to paper elsewhere.
Will Schumacher be in F1 in 2023?
There is a chance Schumacher could be out of the sport completely depending on how the driver market plays out.
The best way to stop that from happening is to raise his game and perform as the pressure ramps up.
He will know deep down that every time he drives out of the garage, it will be analysed thoroughly and another big mistake or a few disappointing performances in the coming races at Zandvoort, Monza and Singapore could spell the end for him.
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