“It’s still 50-50” - Steiner on Schumacher or Hulkenberg at Haas for 2023

The second seat at Haas is one of two available for next season, with Mick Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg the leading candidates.

Despite Schumacher’s improved form in the second half of the season, the German has had a number of big shunts, which have cost Haas a considerable amount of money.

On the other hand, Hulkenberg is seen as an attractive option given his wealth of experience in midfield machinery over the years, even though he’s not raced in F1 full-time since 2019.

However, Hulkenberg has impressed during his cameo appearances for Racing Point and Aston Martin. 

Team owner Gene Haas said earlier this week: “I think Mick has got a lot of potential, but you know he costs a fortune and he’s wrecked a lot of cars that have cost us a lot of money that we just don’t have. 

“Now, if you bring us some points, and you are [Max] Verstappen and you wreck cars, we’ll deal with it. But when you are in the back and you wreck cars, that’s very difficult.”

Speaking to RTL, Steiner confirmed that Haas will not make a decision on their F1 2023 driver line-up until after the Mexican Grand Prix.

"I'm honest: It's still 50-50. Nothing has been decided yet," he said. “We will logically not make a decision between Austin and Mexico simply because time is not there. The next time would be the week after Mexico, because we don't have a race then and have more time to deal with it."

Steiner also revealed that he has spoken to Hulkenberg but stated that nothing has been agreed yet.

He also reiterated the need for Schumacher to score points if he is to retain his drive for next year, even though Haas as a team haven’t scored points since Austria in July.