'Haas and Schumacher to discuss possible contract in Italy'
Rumors
- GPblog.com
Haas F1 is far from certain that Mick Schumacher will rejoin the team's second car from 2023. According to the latest rumours, the American team will not talk about contracts with Michael Schumacher's son until the Italian Grand Prix.
Haas in no hurry
Schumacher is in his second full Formula 1 season with Haas. 2021 was an important learning year in which he drove by far the least powerful car in the field with fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin as his teammate. After that year, he should be ready to fight for points with regularity in 2022, but this is still somewhat disappointing. He has scored in two different weekends so far, but falls behind with points and in the qualifying duel to experienced teammate Kevin Magnussen.
According to the German RTL Haas and Schumacher have not yet started talks about a seat in 2023. Team boss Guenther Steiner would not be in a hurry to secure Schumi for 2023. The same medium reports that the first talks will only start during the Monza race weekend, which takes place on the 9th-11th September.
No Germans or a chance with other teams
Should Haas choose to use a different driver in 2023, that year could be the first without a regular German driver since 1981. Bad news for German F1 fans, who have been without a German Grand Prix for some time and will also have to do without Sebastian Vettel, who has announced his retirement, from next season.
However, there are still opportunities for Schumacher if he is sent away from Haas. He is still a Ferrari junior and the Italian team could try to sign him up to, for example, Alfa Romeo, which uses Ferrari engines. There are also seats available at Williams, AlphaTauri and Alpine.