Mick Schumacher’s F1 journey with Haas appears to be coming to an end, as German outlet Bild have stated that Haas will announce the appointment of Nico Hulkenberg in the next few days.
Team principal Guenther Steiner had said before the Brazilian Grand Prix that he hopes to announce the identity of Kevin Magnussen’s partner before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but made no promises.
Rumours of Hulkenberg’s arrival to the team have ramped up in recent weeks after the German left his role as reserve driver at Aston Martin, where he stood in twice this season for an ill Sebastian Vettel.
Initially it looked like Schumacher would be a hit at the American owned team after he comprehensively beat rookie teammate Nikita Mazepin in his first year in the sport.
READ: ‘Maximum respect’: Mercedes take swipe at Max Verstappen after Lewis Hamilton drama
The young German then continued to build on his first year with some points scoring finishes in 2022, most notably at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, however a series of crashes and small mistakes led the team to hold off on offering him a new contract.
The 23-year-old snapped his car clean in half in Monaco amongst a whole host of other accidents, which caused team owner Gene Haas to tell reporters in Las Vegas that Schumacher had become too expensive to keep, regardless of his potential.
Recently Schumacher has shown that he has to pace to match Kevin Magnussen, but small mistakes or damage to his car have prevented him from reaping the rewards of his upturn in form towards the latter stages of this season.
READ: Toto Wolff makes admission about ‘alpha’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
Hulkenberg has been away from the grid since 2019 where he partnered Daniel Ricciardo at Renault, and has since had to settle for reserve driver roles, stepping in for drivers suffering from COVID during the pandemic.
At 35 years of age the decision to replace an up and coming driver such as Schumacher with someone entering the latter stages of his career has raised eyebrows, but at a team when success is necessary just to survive it can be understood why Haas are choosing to build for the present rather than the future.
Schumacher has claimed that he is still unaware of what 2023 holds for him, with no decision made yet but all the clues seem to add up to the conclusion that he will not be on the grid next year, with Alpine reportedly sniffing around the German for a reserve driver role.