Mick Schumacher’s spot in Formula 1 had been hanging in the balance for a while after Haas suggested that they needed to see an improvement from the young German before they would consider renewing his contract.
The team have replaced the 23-year-old with Nico Hulkenberg as the team look to secure immediate results as opposed to planning for the future.
Gene Haas, the owner of the American team, suggested that while Schumacher has undoubted potential his tendency to crash the car in spectacular fashion, citing his high-profile crash in Monaco as an example.
Team principal Guenther Steiner has told reporters that while the team will happily assist Ferrari wherever possible with their young driver program, Haas cannot afford to risk putting unexperienced drivers in a race seat anymore.
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“We let their juniors drive in free practice and try to help that way. But they are professional and see what’s going on,” he said.
“We explained what we want to do and why. They see we are doing it for the right reasons – because we want to get better.
“Nobody can afford to put a driver in a car for a year to get some experience. I don’t want to name names, but that’s how it is.”
Schumacher has since released a statement which expresses his disappointment in Haas’ decision to replace him, but confirms that he will be doing everything he can to return to the grid, as it is where he feels he belongs.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has now confirmed his team’s interest in recruiting the German as a reserve driver for 2023, after current third driver Nyck de Vries has departed for AlphaTauri.
“Well, the Schumacher family is closely related to Mercedes,” Wolff admitted.
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“David Schumacher drives a Mercedes in the DTM and his father Ralf drove Mercedes for many years. Mick is German and suits the car incredibly well.
“I think he deserves a place in Formula 1. Now we have to see if we can do it,” he concluded.
Alpine are also rumoured to be eyeing up Schumacher for a 2023 reserve driver role, while Audi are keeping tabs on the 23-year-old as they draw up a shortlist of potential drivers for when they complete their takeover of Sauber in 2026.