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“Another $500,000 scrap”: Mick Schumacher brings in heavy bill for Guenther Steiner as German remains a budget cap liability

Tanish Chachra
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"Another $500,000 scrap": Mick Schumacher brings in heavy bill for Guenther Steiner as German remains a budget cap liability

Mick Schumacher crashing his Haas in Japan has cost them around $500,000, which could further strain his extension with the American team.

During the first day of action at the Japanese Grand Prix, Mick Schumacher crashed his car into the wall. Haas saw a massive spike in its repair budget.

Thus, left Haas boss Guenther Steiner utterly disappointed. According to him, the crash by Schumacher has made them spend around $500,000 more from their yearly budget.

“Another half a million euros of scrap! That simply mustn’t happen on the last lap back to the pits,” said Steiner to F1TV. “It’s just disappointing.”

The F1 cost cap has tied every team’s hands in development. On the other hand, Schumacher has been the costliest driver in the entire grid, with his car damage cost to Haas now ranging between $1.5 million to $2 million.

Also read: Mick tests Michael Schumacher’s 2003 title winning car which will auction for $9.5 Million

Another crash could cost Mick Schumacher his F1 stay

This season has strained ties between Haas and Schumacher. The American team is not keen on extending his contract after the 2020 F2 champion decided to leave Ferrari’s academy.

Nevertheless, his performances have been good in the second half of the season, which could be a factor in staying with Haas. Earlier this season, even Schumacher wasn’t keen on staying with Haas for 2023 as he was linked with Alpine.

However, with Pierre Gasly likely to take the seat in the French team, Schumacher is left without options. Though, there has been strong interest from Williams. It remains to be seen what the German race driver will do with time to decide about his future slowly passing away.

Is AlphaTauri an answer?

Gasly is likely to be announced by Alpine on Saturday. This move will surely leave a vacuum at AlphaTauri, who still don’t have a straightforward replacement for the Frenchman in mind after the FIA didn’t give a super license to Colton Herta.

So, Schumacher, one of the most significant young prospects in F1, can pique the interests of the bosses at Red Bull. However, it can technically ruin his relations with Ferrari.

So, options for the 23-year-old are still not less. But he has to decide before all three teams decide to move on.

Also read: Alpine release the super-limited edition A110 R Fernando Alonso for $145,000

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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