F1 star Mick Schumacher has been lambasted by Haas boss Gene Haas as the German was accused of 'wrecking cars', costing the team millions of pounds.
The 23-year-old will be out of contract at the end of the season and after failing to score points in all but two races so far this year, reports suggest a new deal with his current team may be in doubt. F1 veteran Niko Hulkenberg is among those linked with replacing Schumacher in 2023.
The youngster had a positive showing in Silverstone where he finished eighth, and notched a career-high finish of P6 the following week in Austria. But sadly those results have been somewhat overshadowed by sizeable incidents in Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Japan and another DNF in Canada due to power failure.
Haas says that the crashes have been costly for his team, who operate on a limited budget compared to some rival teams. “In this sport, being kind of a rookie driver, the sport just doesn’t allow it – it’s just too expensive,” he said.
“If you make any mistakes in driver selection, or strategy, or tyre 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.
“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.” It has been tough going for Schumacher, who entered the sport with the huge burden and expectation being the son of seven-time champion and Ferrari legend, Michael.
The pressure continues to mount as Haas has urged Schumacher to produce some more top-10 finishes between now and the end of the season.
“Mick’s future is going to be decided by Mick,” he said. “We’re just waiting. 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.”
It will be a tall task for the driver given he has not finished inside the top 10 since July, but he will not have to wait very long for another opportunity with the US Grand Prix taking place this Sunday.
