Mick Schumacher‘s Haas future hangs in the balance according to team boss Guenther Steiner, who said the team are also looking at Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.
Schumacher has struggled in 2022 up against the more experienced Kevin Magnussen and is out of contract at the end of the season, while Ricciardo‘s been linked to several teams after he was replaced at McLaren by Oscar Piastri.
“It is certainly possible that Schumacher will be in the Haas cockpit again next year, but the probability is 50-50,” Steiner told RTL.
‘We don’t have to decide now, however. You put us under pressure and we don’t need that, we only hurt ourselves.
“We want to see what happens, Mick had a good race at Monza.”
Schumacher had a solid debut season alongside Mazepin but hasn’t hit the same heights in 2022.
Paired alongside Magnussen, a last-minute replacement for the Russian, Schumacher has been dominated 12-4 in qualifying and suffered a severe dip in form after a horrifying crash in Monaco.
The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher also announced his ties with Ferrari are ending following this season and more and more questions have been asked about his Haas future as the year’s progressed.
Ricciardo and Hulkenberg both options for Haas
Ricciardo is the biggest-name driver currently on the market, the Australian was set to race for McLaren in 2023 but was replaced by Piastri after a lacklustre second season in papaya.
He’s been linked with a return to Alpine although those rumours have gone quiet more recently, and also with Williams to replace Nicholas Latifi.
“In his situation, Daniel first has to decide for himself what he does,” Steiner said.
“It makes little sense to persuade him to do something, he has to decide for himself.
“If he feels like it, he will certainly call, otherwise he will probably say, ‘I’ll do a sabbatical or something else’.”
Hulkenberg is also in the conversation, the German last had a full-time F1 seat with Renault in 2019 but has made four stand-in appearances since then.
He last raced at the start of 2022 after Sebastian Vettel contracted coronavirus and had to miss the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“A man like Nico brings experience,” Steiner added.
“What can a driver do to make the team better and bring us to the top? How much risk do you want to take?
“With a young driver, you usually take more risks because you don’t know how far he can go. You can’t calculate that mathematically.”
