Schumacher’s Ferrari deal delayed Haas’ F1 driver announcement for 2022

Haas officially announced on Thursday morning before the Russian Grand Prix this weekend that it would maintain the same driver line-up for next season, confirming that Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will stay for a second season in 2022.

The F1 rookies’ continuation was long considered a formality, but the lack of official confirmation in a developing 2022 driver market had speculated on Schumacher’s future in particular, with suggestions that the Ferrari protégé could take the only remaining seat at Alfa Romeo.

In a conversation with media such as Crash.net on Thursday, Haas team boss Günther Steiner announced that the American team is waiting for the final details of Schumacher’s “long-term” Ferrari contract to be signed before making an announcement.

“As I always said, I didn’t see any problems, but obviously it wasn’t signed,” said Steiner. “I wouldn’t go out and say ‘it’s all done’ until everything is done.

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“Mick made long-term agreements with Ferrari – which I don’t know the details of, so don’t ask me about them – and they had to figure out some things and it took some time.

“All in all, I knew it was going in the right direction, it was just a need to sort out a few things, that was the only reason.

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“As I have always told you, it is going in the right direction, but it has not been signed and I cannot announce anything until it is signed.”

When asked whether Haas had talked to other drivers because of the delays, Steiner replied: “No, I didn’t talk to others because we just had to confirm them, that’s the natural choice.”

Steiner said Haas had originally planned to announce its driver plans for the next season at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

“The goal was to do it in Monza, but we didn’t make it,” he explained. “The honest thing was to make the announcement in Monza, we just missed the braking point a little, we exceeded it.

“That’s why we did it here. There’s no other reason why we did it here. But I’ve never spoken to other drivers, no.”