Haas team principal Guenther Steiner appears to be in absolutely no rush to announce who will partner Kevin Magnussen in 2023, despite it being known who is in contention for the second Haas seat.
It’s believed that the seat is set to be awarded to either current Haas driver Mick Schumacher or Aston Martin reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg, who hasn’t completed a full season since 2019.
Steiner has recently revealed that Schumacher has a “50/50 chance” of being retained by the team, with his current deal set to expire at the end of this season.
The German started the season poorly and is believed to have fallen out with the Americans following two big crashes at Saudi Arabia and Monaco, which were both extremely costly for the eighth-placed team.
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However, he has found some form in the second half of the season, which has included points finishes at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring; he was also set for a points finish at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, before being hit by George Russell.
Steiner has remained adamant that he doesn’t need to “hurry” up, with only the second seat at Haas and the second seat at Williams yet to be properly decided.
“We are not in a hurry and there’s not a lot of things moving,” said the Haas boss.
“So why should I be in a hurry?”
“That is what we are looking at. It’s a little bit what do we need to do to get the team better, to help ourselves.”
Should Haas choose Hulkenberg over Schumacher, then it will likely mean the end of the 23-year-old’s F1 career, for now at least.
He has been linked to Williams, with team principal Jost Capito, a known fan of the son of Michael Schumacher, admitting he’s an option for 2023.
Schumacher’s Williams hopes appear to rely on F2 driver Logan Sargeant not finishing in the top six of the Drivers’ Championship, as that will mean he won’t have enough superlicence points to make a move.
Should the American finish in the top six, then he’s the favourite to replace Nicholas Latifi, given the fact he’s a key part of the Williams Academy.
It’s vital for Schumacher to prove himself in the final five races of the season, with Steiner admitting that they want to “see how Mick is doing” before making a final decision.
“And we just want to see how Mick is doing,” added Steiner.
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“There’s a lot of it we are watching. We are not just sitting there doing nothing, we are seeing what is happening and we know where we want to go, we need to get a stronger team for next year and for the future. So that is what we are waiting.
“There’s no hurry and we are thinking it properly too. The only thing we don’t want to make, maybe next year, saying if we made the wrong decision because we didn’t think is through enough.
“And not having the pressure to do anything, because I don’t think there is a lot of opportunities out there anymore. And we will not miss any of them. We are not in a hurry.”