F1: Mick Schumacher's Haas Contract Renewal All But A Formality

Haas driver and son of legendary 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher, Mick Schumacher is all set for renewal at the American-British team which is tottering at the back of the F1 grid in 2021. Mick Schumacher who is the reigning F2 world champion has more or less had the edge over his teammate Nikita Mazepin while has also impressed many with his maturity and racecraft. The German hasn't scored any points but once managed to progress to Q2 during the French GP weekend.

"Everything is signed there, everything's fine. There are a few things which just need to be sorted out. It's a three-way contract, obviously, because he's got one with Ferrari. There need to be a few t's crossed and a few i's dotted, and then we will get there. But Mick is not... he is [not] trying to say he's not signed, but there are agreements in place. But because of [the contract being] three-way it's always more difficult than when it is a straightforward one-to-one contact," said Guenther Steiner, the team principal of the Haas F1 team.

There was some chatter that Schumacher may be transitioned to the Alfa Romeo team as Ferrari wants to keep him away from Nikita Mazepin who is the son of billionaire Dimitri Mazepin, who is a major sponsor for the team and could potentially get ownership one day of it as well in the case Gene Haas decides to leave the sport.

The young german recently drove the Jordan 191 which was his father's first car

"Obviously, my focus right now is really on here, now, and on the race. You know, we have the summer break, the summer shutdown coming soon. And that's really when I will be completely on that and then focus on that," said Mick Schumacher in his typical optimistic yet humble way.

The young Schumacher is a great catch for any team. The fact the 22-year-old is the F2 champion and also the son of Michael Schumacher who remains extremely popular to date due to his exploits in Ferrari and Benetton in the 90s and 2000s. He also gets the backing of Ferrari as he's a graduate of the Ferrari Driver Academy and becomes of great use to teams that use a Ferrari engine like Alfa Romeo and Haas.

From a long term view, it is clear, the young Schumacher is being groomed to be a Ferrari driver to emulate what his father once did for the legendary prancing horse.