Mick Schumacher will not have to wait too much longer to find out his Formula 1 fate, with Haas closing in on a decision.
The German's seat is the final one to be decided for 2023. It is understood his is in a straight fight with his much more experience compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, who has not raced full-time in F1 since 2019, for the spot.
Team boss Guenther Steiner has taken his time over the decision, making it clear on many occasions that he will not be rushed. Even some criticism from pundits and fans, for forcing Schumacher to wait for so long, has not forced Haas to speed up the process.
But it seems Steiner is finally close to making his mind up, if he hasn't already. "Hopefully next week we can announce something, whatever we are doing," he told reporters in Sao Paulo, though he did caveat that by adding: "It's my objective, but I don't promise it."
Explaining the timeframe a little further, Steiner made it clear why he hopes to have announced a decision before the season finale next weekend. "We want to have the driver in that drives next year in the Abu Dhabi test, that’s the only thing we want to do," he said.
"The rest is like we try to make the best decision we can, and time helps to make good decisions." Schumacher has been with Haas for two seasons now, but there is a feeling he has not done enough to keep hold of his spot.
He has also been involved in several costly crashes which drew criticism from Steiner and team owner Gene Haas. The feeling is the team would prefer a more experienced option to partner Kevin Magnussen in 2023, hinting that Hulkenberg might be the preferred choice.
"I think we will make a step next year with our car development," added Steiner, as he explained that the major factor in his driver decision will be "how best to develop the team for the future" – a future which he seems optimistic will be a bright one.
"We have done a lot of things, we have done a lot of analysis, what have we done this year, how can we improve the team. That is not down to one race as a lot of people say, even if it's a fantastic race here. We just think about mid-term, not just short-term. Short-term was a few years ago."
