Kevin Magnussen feels that Mick Schumacher has worked hard to prove that he deserves a seat in Formula 1 next year.
Schumacher had a very impressive rookie campaign in F1 where he comprehensively outperformed teammate Nikita Mazepin. However, the Russian was replaced by Magnussen the following year, and Schumacher struggled to continue with his form.
In the initial stages of the season, the German driver crashed plenty of times. With F1 teams being forced to follow a $145 million budget cap, it was not easy for Haas to deal with the added costs because of his mistakes. His contract with the American team is up at the end of the current season, so his future is up in the air.
Magnussen: First of all, I haven’t had any influence with regards to drivers it’s totally out of my hands. Mick has been improving from not liking the car to become a driver hard to beat. He deserves a seat on the grid
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) October 20, 2022
Even though Schumacher struggled in the initial part of the season, he found his pace in the latter stages. The gap between him and Magnussen closed gradually, and he even scored his first points finishes in Silverstone and Austria this year.
Magnussen feels that this is something teams should take into consideration. The Dane insists that the 23-year-old deserves to be in Formula 1 in 2023.
Haas boss criticized Mick Schumacher for ‘costing a fortune’
Earlier this month, Gene Haas spoke out against Schumacher publicly. He insisted that his driver costed a fortune because of the number of times he has crashed his car. This was seen as a very negative comment to make against one’s own driver. Schumacher meanwhile, feels that it is fair.
According to the 2020 F2 Champion, Haas has every right to make that comment. This is because he is the one who owns the Kannapolis-based outfit and pays their bills.
A dramatic crash for Mick Schumacher
Watch all the key moments from a dramatic race 🎥#MonacoGP #F1
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 29, 2022
“Gene [Haas] is my boss. Gene has every right to make his comments,” he said to motorsport-total.com. “It’s nothing that wasn’t known before. That’s something that’s clear and what’s the case was. Therefore: accepted. Of course, our goal is to collect points.”
This week, Haas are gearing up for their home race in Austin. Since the second half of the season started, they have massively lacked in pace and are yet to score a point. That is something Schumacher and Magnussen will be wanting to change this weekend.