American Formula 1 team Haas announced on Thursday it will drop current driver Mick Schumacher after the 2022 season. His replacement has been named as fellow German driver Nico Hülkenberg.
Schumacher, whose father is F1 legend Michael Schumacher, joined Haas in 2021 as a rookie, and while he’s managed to get some decent points on the board in 2022, the tally is less than half that of fellow Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
He’s also suffered several major crashes this season which have hurt the team’s finances, including a qualifying crash that caused him to miss the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as well as a crash during practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, and another during the Monaco Grand Prix that caused his car to split in two.
Hülkenberg is a much more experienced driver, having competed on and off in F1 since 2010 and scoring a win at the 2024 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 with Porsche. Hülkenberg has been out of F1 since 2019 when he was dropped at Renault, though he’s filled in at Aston Martin (and its Racing Point predecessor) on a number of occasions.
Mick Schumacher
Hülkenberg’s best finish is fourth place, which he achieved three times. He also achieved a pole position and two fastest laps during his career.
“The experience and knowledge base Nico brings to the team is clear to see, with nearly 200 career starts in Formula 1, and a reputation as being a great qualifier and a solid, reliable racer,” Günther Steiner, Haas’ team principal, said in a statement.
Schumacher’s only hope for a seat in 2023 is at Williams, though the British squad is thought to be eying American racer Logan Sargeant.
An alternative role for Schumacher could be a reserve driver for Mercedes-Benz AMG. The German squad is in need for a new reserve driver to replace both Nyck de Vries, who will race for AlphaTauri next year, and Stoffel Vandoorne, who replaces Hülkenberg in the reserve driver role at Aston Martin.