But the first assumption is demonstrably wrong. The second cannot yet be conclusively assessed.
28 races, zero points
The facts are initially extremely sobering. The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has contested 28 races in formula so far, and he has not scored a single point.
On the other hand, the spectacular crash on Sunday (29.05.22) in Monaco was his second capital loss this season, and he also crashed the Haas during qualifying in Saudi Arabia in March. In addition, there was the accident in Miami when he rushed together with Sebastian Vettel and thus lost the first points in the premier class that were already believed to be safe.
For the sake of fairness, however, it must be said about the zero-point balance that the Haas was completely inferior in 2021. Schumacher cannot be blamed for the first 22 pointless races. On the contrary: To finish 13th in Azerbaijan on June 6th, 2021 and 12th in Budapest on August 1st, 2021, was brilliant. For his start into the 2022 season, this compliment cannot be maintained.
Teammate Kevin Magnussen scores
He could have saved himself a lot of pressure in the first race on March 20th in Bahrain, but he was “only” good enough for eleventh place – but only the top ten get points. Schumacher’s teammate shows that they are possible in this car this year, almost mandatory: The much more experienced Kevin Magnussen is tenth in the drivers’ standings after seven races with 15 points.
Yuki Tsunoda in the clearly weaker Alpha Tauri has already collected eleven points, Alex Albon in the overwhelmed Williams is three, even China rookie Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) was tenth before.
Serious accidents stress the tight budget
The patience of Haas team boss Günther Steiner seems to be very strained, which is understandable, especially in view of the serious accidents in connection with the tight budget of the racing team. Even before the Monaco Grand Prix, Steiner had taken a position on this subject, sounding rather annoyed: he didn’t want to warn his drivers to be careful with regard to possible accident costs and he also doesn’t assume that the drivers will be so tight on their budgets, “But first think about your own career. And if you always have accidents, you don’t have a career.”
That couldn’t mean anyone other than Schumacher, and Steiner follows suit. After the race in Monaco, he did not give any interviews, but only had his press department quote him in a statement that was open to interpretation: “It’s not particularly satisfying to have a serious accident again. We’ll have to see how it goes from here.”
Steiner’s disappointment is also praise
Strictly speaking, the postscript does not even rule out an immediate expulsion of Mick Schumacher, who was enormously promoted in the Ferrari Academy, but it will hardly come to that. But if you think about the words Steiner’s statement “Certainly not like the last time” added, one should come pretty close to the truth. The disappointment that could be heard from Steiner several times now also proves what he really expects from Schumacher: a lot.
Steiner not only wants to accompany the time until a possible rise of the 23-year-old to become a regular driver at Ferrari and enable him to practice driving. Steiner wants success, and that is measured in Formula 1 by the points account.
Always one year lead time
So what speaks for continued employment after his contract expires in 2023? Definitely Schumacher’s past as a young racing driver. Both in Formula 3 and then in Formula 2, he won the title in his second year, which alone justifies his chance to prove himself in the premier class more than any surname.
However, the fact that it has taken him this one year to adjust so far also means that he must deliver immediately, because a third of this second year is already over. Steiner no longer wants dismantled cars, but top ten placements. Otherwise, at least Haas can no longer afford Schumacher’s subsequent employment, neither financially nor in terms of sport. And then his entire career would indeed be at stake.