F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Mick Schumacher’s fate is decided - but a secret - says Guenther Steiner
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has finally confirmed that he has settled on his duo for next season, filling the only remaining spot in the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 2023 driver line-up, but he won't publicise his call yet.
Schumacher’s contract expires at the end of 2022 and he could be replaced by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nico Hulkenberg. His teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Kevin Magnussen, mea𒅌nwhile, had his finest day in F1 by earning pole position for the sprint at Interlagos. Magnussen finished the sprint in eighth, Schumacher was 12th.
Asked if he had decided about whether to keep Schumacher, Steiner replied:൩ “Y🌠es, you’re right.
“We are just sorting out detail🍰s - how we will do what we are going to do.
“Expect the announcement some time next week. I’m not telling you the day because then everybody will be waiting for that day –꧅ but it will be coming next week.”
Steiner reflected on Schumacher’s performance in Friday qualifying which put h🌄im at the back of the grid for the Saturday sprint - possibly the worst ✨time for him to register a poor result.
“I really felt almosℱt sorry for him because he d♓id a good job in Q1 before he went out,” Steiner said.
“The first two runs were very good and then with the dry tyres, he just couldn’t get the feeling. He lost a little bit of temperature when some people overtook him on his out-lap an🌃d then couldn’t get the temperature back in and then lost a little bit of co💫nfidence, started to slide, and that is what is happening – it just didn’t work for him.
“But otherwise, the whole season, we all know he had very good momen♔ts and very bad moments. It’s an up and down. I think he got more consistent, he obviously improved.
“The beginning of the season was very tough, when he was thrown in the deeꦕp end with a better car, with a very good team-mate – it was a little bit of an 🐼‘okay, this is now Formula 1 really’. But then he recovered and got better.”
Steiner has repeatedly criticised Schumacher this season for the quantity of his crashes. He has also repeatedly implied that he wanted his driver to have more experience, and he publicly courted 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Daniel Ricciardo.
Are Mercedes a Plan B for Schumacher?
The Haas driver is being considered by Mercedes as their reserve driver for next season, according to꧅ Germany’s .
Ricciardo is thinking about whether ﷽to join Mercedes or Red Bull in a reserve role. If he opts for Red 𝓰Bull, Mercedes could then go for Schumacher if he is released by Haas.
James was a sp🌜orts journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American spꩲorts, to football, to F1.
