“He’s Still Dropping the Ball”: Mick Schumacher’s Expensive Weakness That Can Cost Him His F1 Career

Mick Schumacher may not have accrued a lot of points for his team in his 2 years, but the reason for his dwindling future is not that. Haas is arguably a cash-strapped team and a driver that wrecks the car too often is the last thing they need. Former F1 driver Damon Hill recently touched upon the fact and the driver he deems suitable to replace Mick in 2023.

Team principal Guenther Steiner earlier gave Mick Schumacher an ultimatum. That he must score points in the remaining races to show his worth to the team. We’ve had 2 races since then and the German has scored no points. Steiner later backtracked on the statement and revealed it’s not just scoring points that can keep Mick’s ship afloat in the F1 team.

Former F1 champion talks about Mick Schumacher’s prospects of staying in F1

Haas owner Gene Haas last month expressed his concern on how frequently Mick Schumacher crashes the car. The matter of concern was also the fact that almost every time Schumacher’s crashes resulted in the car being unsalvageable. Damon Hill echoed a similar sentiment in the latest episode of the F1 Nation podcast.

Hill said, “I think he’s still dropping the ball and costing the team a lot of money when he, unfortunately, damages the car. So that was the issue.”

“Whether you put him, whether you stick with him and hope it’s going to turn around at some point. Or whether you stick in someone who’s an experienced old hand like Nico [Hulkenberg], you know, where they are really a guy that crashes the car is not what they need,” he continued.

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Guenther Steiner has stayed in touch with Hulkenberg in case he should fill Mick’s cockpit next season. However, the team hasn’t decided who they’ll go with until now. The added bonus is the fact that Kevin Magnussen has no problem sharing the garage with his old nemesis.

Kevin Magnussen opens up on partnering with Nico Hulkenberg at Haas

Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg have had some run-ins on and off the track in the past. The most significant incident occurred at the 2017 Hungarian GP. Magnussen turned into the then-Renault driver pushing him off the track. Later, when Magnussen was in one of his post-race interviews, Nico interrupted him. Magnussen responded, “s*ck my b*lls”.

After all these years, however, Magnussen has put the incident behind him. He recently admitted, “I think I’ve said many times now, that I don’t have a problem with Nico at all.” 

The Dane added, “Actually, I respect him as a racing driver, I don’t really know him as a person. But certainly as a racing driver, I’ve always respected him so I would have no problem.”

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The remaining two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi are going to be tough tests for Mick Schumacher. He not only has to be mindful of not crashing, but also proving his worth by scoring some points. Otherwise, do you thing the stage is set for Nico Hulkenberg’s comeback?