Hulkenberg has no pity: 'Then someone else would have got that spot'

Nico Hulkenberg does not feel sorry for Mick Schumacher. According to the new Haas driver, Schumacher would have been replaced by the team management anyway, even if The Hulk had said 'no'.

In 2023, one German will make way for another at Haas. Schumacher has to leave the field at Guenther Steiner's team after two seasons, after particularly disappointing performances in year two. Schumacher's entourage, in the form of uncle Ralf Schumacher, also ensured that they were done with Schumacher at the American racetrack.

Hulkenberg replaces Schumacher

Hulkenberg is his replacement. Whereas Sebastian Vettel and Schumacher are very good with each other, however, that is not necessarily the case with these two Germans. ''We haven't spoken to each other since. We never really exchanged ideas before that either. Mick is also a different generation. We never had a real relationship," the 35-year-old driver told German RTL.

So although the two did speak to each other occasionally during a drivers' parade because they speak the same language, there was never a relationship between the two. ''The story is what it is now. If it hadn't been me, it might have been someone else (who had taken Mick's place).'' The Hulk seems to be clearly speculating that Schumacher would lose his spot anyway.

''F1 is about performance. If you convince and perform, you have a job, you're a hot stock. If there is no performance, then it's over very quickly,'' Hulkenberg concluded. The experienced driver returns in 2023 after a three-year absence and will also have to make sure he delivers immediately himself, otherwise it could soon be over for him too.