Mick Schumacher’s future, at least that has been the widely held assumption so far, is entirely in the hands of Ferrari. The 23-year-old young driver is the junior of the Cavallino , which in turn was considered to have the right to occupy one of the two Haas seats in Formula 1. But it already seems that this is not the case, as the team leader Günther Steiner .
“I’m not going to talk about any Ferrari contract with us. And I’m not going to talk about the contracts between Ferrari and Mick either, because I don’t know them in detail either,” Steiner said in an interview with ‘ Motorsport-Total.com ‘, Motorsport’s sister publication. com in Germany.
Assuming it’s 100% up to Ferrari which driver will sit in the second cockpit alongside Kevin Magnussen in 2023 “maybe it’s not as clear” as they always say, reveals Steiner.
This is how he explains it: “We must not conclude that Ferrari tells us what we have to do. We can give our opinion about it.”
Mick Schumacher’s position within Ferrari seems comfortable at the moment. Italians are seen as unlikely to turn to Antonio Giovinazzi for Formula 1 again, and Callum Ilott has decided – at least for the time being – to pursue a race in North America.
Robert Shwartzman remains, 2021 Formula 2 runner-up behind Oscar Piastri . Shwartzman is a test driver for Ferrari in Formula 1 2022, but it is considered unthinkable that right now the driver of Russian origin ends up in an American team, even though he competes under the Israeli flag since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .
Mick Schumacher’s chances for 2023 F1 are good
In other words, there are currently no serious alternatives within the Ferrari program – and hardly anyone can imagine that Haas will not field a Ferrari junior, even if Steiner makes it clear that it is not just Ferrari’s decision who sits in second. seat-.
For now, the sporting attention is focused on the next update to be introduced to the Hungarian Grand Prix and improving its position in the world championship. Haas is currently eighth in the constructors’ standings with 20 points, two points ahead of Aston Martin and seven behind AlphaTauri.
Retaining eighth place, with a rival as strong as Aston Martin, would really be a success, you would think. But Steiner is clear and says “I want more!”. Asked if he could be more specific, he replied: “Seventh place specifically. After all, we should have been seventh if we hadn’t had those five races where there was always something wrong.”
The full interview with Günther Steiner, in which, by the way, he also explains why he does not give interviews to the paid chain that broadcasts F1 in Germany (Sky), will be published on the portals of Motorsport Network Germany (Motorsport-Total. com, Formel1.de and Motorsport.com) after the Austrian Grand Prix.
