The 35-year-old veteran driver had not been a starter since his departure from Renault at the end of 2019. The son of the legend loses his place in F1 after two years.
The American Squire Haas F1 Team announced this Thursday that the German driver Mick Schumacher will not continue with the team in 2023after two full seasons in which he scored 12 points, and that the veteran Nico Hlkenberg, 35, will be his second driver alongside Kevin Magnussen.
“Haas F1 Team and Mick Schumacher will part ways at the conclusion of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Haas F1 Team has signed German Nico Hlkenberg to contest the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship alongside Danish Kevin Magnussen “, the team announced in a statement.
On the one hand, the squire confirmed a rumor that had already come true, Mick Schumacher will not start what would be his third season at Haas. The German, F2 champion in 2020 and son of the historic Michael Schumacher, joined Haas in 2021 along with the already ousted Nikita Mazepin.
This year, as a partner of the Dane Kevin Magnussen, Schumacher scored his first Formula 1 points, first with an eighth-place finish at the 2022 British Grand Prix and, in the following appointment in Austria, with a sixth place that is his best performance in the championship. This 2022 closed it in 16th place with those 12 points.
“I would like to thank Mick Schumacher for his contribution to the team over the last two years,” said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. “Mick’s pedigree in the junior categories was well known and he has continued to grow and develop as a driver in his time with Haas, culminating in his first Formula 1 points-scoring successes earlier this season.”
“While we choose to go in separate directions for the future, The whole team wishes Mick the best for the next steps in his professional career and beyond.Steiner pointed out.
Mick’s disappointment
For his part, Mick Schumacher said goodbye to Haas on his social networks. “This is going to be my last race with the Haas F1 Team. I do not want to hide the fact that I am very disappointed by the decision not to renew our contract.“, he acknowledged.
“However, I would like to thank both Haas F1 and Ferrari for giving me this opportunity. Those years together have helped me mature both technically and personally. And especially when things got tough, i realized how much i love this sport“, hue.
For the German, his time in F1 had “bumps”. Now, except for surprise, he will not have a steering wheel in 2023 since only Williams has a place and it will be, in principle, for a driver from his academy. “Constantly better, I learned a lot and now I am sure that I deserve a place in Formula 1. The subject is anything but closed to me. Setbacks only make you stronger. My fire burns and I will fight hard to get back on the F1 starting grid,” she said.
200 races
After announcing the departure of Mick Schumacher, Haas announced that his successor will also be the German Nico Hlkenberg, a 35-year-old veteran who was “very happy” to return to the ‘Great Circus’. “I feel like I never really left Formula 1,” he said. “I am excited to have the opportunity to do what I love the most again,” said a Hlkenberg, who has 521 points in F1, with a fourth place as the best result and a ‘pole position’, achieved in the Brazilian GP in 2010 with Williams, at its premiere.
Steiner welcomed the German driver to Haas. “I am very happy to welcome Nico Hlkenberg back to Formula 1 as a factory driver. The experience and knowledge base that Nico brings to the team is evident, with nearly 200 races in Formula 1“, worth.
“He has a reputation for being a great qualifier and a solid, reliable rider. These are attributes which, when combined with the experience of Kevin Magnussen, give us a very experienced driver pairing that we believe will help propel the team forward in the grill”, augur Steiner, in this sense.