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Steiner expands on Schumacher’s contract; don’t have to wait for Ferrari

Guenther Steiner, F1, Haas, Mick Schumacher

HUNGARORING, HUNGARY - JULY 29: Mick Schumacher, Haas F1 Team during the Hungarian GP at Hungaroring on Friday July 29, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images)

Guenther Steiner expands on Mick Schumacher’s F1 future where he reckons that Ferrari will not be involved in the process.

While Kevin Magnussen is set to remain at Haas in 2022, the discussions are on with regards to Schumacher whose future is yet to be determined. Speaking about the German’s situation with the team and Ferrari, Steiner put down the Italian’s team involvement.

Recently Mattia Binotto stated they are not yet fully convinced with Schumacher in an interview to RTL. He has his own contract with Ferrari and a separate one with Haas, but Steiner states that the American team is not looking at what Italian outfit does.

“No, we don’t have to wait to see what Ferrari says,” Steiner told RACER. “We never decide the driver before the summer break and we will not do so this year. Obviously I will start to speak with Gene over the summer break and then you know how we do it — you will ask again at the next race in Europe and then we will tell you some time in the end of September or October what we are doing, and the same will be happening this year hopefully.

“I don’t want to speak about our Ferrari deal because otherwise they get upset (joke). At the end of the day I don’t know the real deal between Ferrari and Mick — and I don’t need to know. If he decides to go somewhere else, I cannot change it. Only Gene and me are involved in that process,” summed up Steiner, who is fine to have at least Magnussen’s situation clear for 2023.

“I’m very happy; at least it’s one headache less,” said Steiner. “He’s doing a good job and he’s enjoying himself here — at least I think so! You’d have to ask him if he already regrets coming back but I don’t think so, I think he’s in a pretty good place.

“I don’t think he was expecting the car to be performing like it is, so for us to have him for next year is something less to think about. Let’s focus on getting everything ready for next year but not on the driver.”