Mick Schumacher receives timely endorsement as Haas decision draws closer

Kevin Magnussen has given his support to his Haas team-mate Mick Schumacher and says he believes the young German deserves a spot on the grid.

As it stands, Schumacher has only four races left with Haas as his contract has yet to be extended and the team have given little indication anything is on the horizon.

Haas are one of two teams, alongside Williams, yet to confirm their 2023 line-upbut team boss Guenther Steiner recently said no decision will be made until after the Mexican Grand Prix.

Schumacher remains in the running but faces competition from the likes of Nico Hulkenberg and Antonio Giovinazzi.

One man whose future is assured is Magnussen, who joined at the start of 2022 and has a multi-year contract with the American team.

Speaking ahead ofHaas‘ home race in Austin, Magnussen was asked if he had been consulted by the team as to who he preferred as his team-mate and also gave his thoughts on Schumacher this season.

“Well, first of all, I haven’t had any influence on what’s been going on with drivers and that’s totally out of my hands,” the Danish driver said.

“If I just look at Mick, I think he has been really improving over the year. He started off maybe not really liking the car and lacking a bit of confidence, but he’s really gained that and lately he’s been super-hard to beat.

“For me, I think the way he’s driving right now he definitely deserves a place on the grid. But again, totally out of my hands and I can only sort of just wish him well.”

Haas also announced a new title sponsor with American P2P payments and money transfer company MoneyGram joining them from 2023 onwards following the team’s sudden breakdown with Uralkali before the start of this season.

Having started strongly, the team will be hoping to end 2022 on a high and pip Aston Martin to P7 in the Constructors’. They currently trail the Silverstone-based team by 11 points.

“I think so,” Magnussen replied when he was asked if he believes it will go down to the wire. “It’s very tight in terms of points.

“Even the next position up, P7, if you just look at the points it’s not so much, but it’s so hard for us to score points at the moment. So it will be tough, but we will do our best of course.”

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