By Joe Murphy
With Mick Schumacher suffering his second million dollar crash of this season in Monaco this past weekend, F1 journalist Joe Saward has revealed thaf Haas “would probably like a different driver next year”. However, it has been reported that Ferrari could ultimately have the final say in proceedings.
Following Nikita Mazepin’s shock exit, more focus has shifted onto Schumacher, who still in search of his first F1 World Championship point. His latest incident brought out the red flag in Monte Carlos, when he skidded into the swimming pool section barrier. After going off the drying line by a considerable margin, he then lost control of the car and speared into the barrier before the force of the crash sent him across the track and split his car in half on the exit. It was reminiscent of Romain Grosjean’s incident in Bahrain.
He was unhurt but the same cannot be said of Haas’ budget. Guenther Steiner estimated that Schumacher’s Jeddah crash already cost the team in excess of a million pounds. So to have had this repeated is likely make the boss rather unhappy.
According to Saward’s latest blog, Schumacher’s big crashes are impacting the restricted budget, meaning it is now… “wearing thin for Haas and there is talk that it would probably like a different driver next year, although Ferrari does have a say in the matter.”
28 races in, and Mick is still yet to score a point in the sport. The problem for the team is the options to replace him with. Do they spend big on Daniel Ricciardo, or bring back a Giovinazzi or Hulkenberg? If looking for youth as they have in the past, they could make a move for Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman in Formula 3, but that is a big step jump in one move. Marcus Armstrong and Callum Ilott also seem unlikely.
As for Schumacher himself, rumours continue to grow that he could be with Aston Martin come next season. The German is still only 23-years-old and could be set to be in line to replace Sebastian Vettel, should the German opt to call time on his Formula 1 career at the culmination of his current contract.
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