Gene Haas, owner of the Haas F1 Team, has said there is one thing Mick Schumacher must do to retain his seat for the 2023 season.
The team owner said he has to score points across the final four races of the 2022 season to prove he is deserving of a new Haas deal.
The 23-year-old is currently sitting 16th in the driver’s standings and has scored just 12 points through 18 races with the pressure on for this weekend’s race in Texas.
Gene Haas also told Associated Press reporters that Schumacher has “cost a fortune” with his incidents on track and said the team has spoken to other drivers as it mulls over its options for 2023.
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With just four races left on this year’s calendar, Gene said “Mick’s future is going to be decided by Mick.”
“We’re just waiting,” he said, “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. That’s what we are waiting for.”
Haas went on to say that Schumacher’s crashes have cost the team far too much money – that they don’t have – and said at this point it’s a “grey area” when speaking of the young driver’s future with the team.
“In this sport, being kind of a rookie driver, the sport just doesn’t allow it – it’s just too expensive,” Haas added.
“If you make any mistakes in driver selection, strategy or tire selection, it is costing you millions of dollars.
“I think Mick has got a lot of potential 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.
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“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.”
Wen asked whether or not Schumacher has all of the final four races to prove himself, the team owner said: “Well, if he wins the next one, he’s in. Somewhere in between there is a grey area.”
