Mick Schumacher will find out his fate next week, with Haas team principal Guenther Steiner revealing that a decision on their driver line-up is imminent.
Speculation has been mounting that Schumacher could lose his place at Haas to Nico Hulkenberg, who is viewed as a safer pair of hands than the inconsistent German youngster.
Steiner insists Schumacher has improved this season compared to last, but has openly criticised his driver for crashing too frequently and costing the team money it cannot afford.
“He got more consistent. Obviously, starting up the season was very tough, but he was in the deep end with a very good teammate,” Steiner told the press.
“It was OK. His job is a little bit up and down, and again yesterday I almost felt sorry for him because he did a good job in Q1.
“Before he went out, the first two rounds were very good and then he just couldn’t get the feeling of temperature and some people overtook him on his outlap and then he couldn’t get the temperature back.
“Then he lost confidence. That’s what is happening, it just didn’t work for him yesterday but otherwise the whole season, we all know he had very good moments and bad moments. You know, it’s up and down.
“You can expect an announcement sometime next week. I’m not betting the day because everybody will be waiting for the date but it will be coming next week.”
Schumacher joined Haas ahead of the 2021 season and on the back of a Formula 2 win but has struggled alongside Kevin Magnussen. The pair’s contrasting fortunes could perhaps be summed up by Qualifying for the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, with the Dane taking a shock pole and Schumacher propping up the field.
