After two years at Haas, Mick Schumacher, son of legendary driver Michael Schumacher, has seen his future in the sport plunged into doubt, upon the expiry of his current contract.
Initially brought in for 2021 to race alongside fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin, Schumacher has shown flashes of the brilliance that runs in his family, but not often enough for the liking of team owner Gene Haas.
Despite having a steady two seasons for the American owned team, the young German is proving a costly asset, with the quantity and severity of his crashes proving too much for the team to handle.
“In this sport, being kind of a rookie driver, the sport just doesn’t allow it – it’s just too expensive,” Gene Haas told the Associated press.
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“I think Mick has got a lot of potential,” he continued.
“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.”
The team boss believes that if Mick was to be regularly scoring points then this would be less of a problem, but at the moment his on track performance isn’t worth the cost.
“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.”
Haas claims there is no magic number needed for Schumacher, to save his seat, however an improvement needs to be seen in the closing stages of the season.
“Well if he wins the next one, he’s in. Somewhere in between there is a grey area,” explained Haas.
“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.”
READ: Race director sacked by the FIA ahead of 2022 US Grand Prix
Mick is adored by F1 fans everywhere for his model personality, however he needs to show what he can do soon, as it’s reported that Nico Hulkenberg is breathing down the neck of his countryman.
“Who knows, maybe in 2023 or in the future there will be an opportunity to return to Formula 1,” the 35- year old stated.
Hulkenberg, who stood in for Vettel at Aston Martin for the first two races of the season while he was unwell, has reportedly stepped up his training programme in anticipation of a return to the sport.