Rumor: Hulkenberg leading candidate to replace Schumacher (Update)

(GMM) Gunther Steiner has denied already signing on the dotted line of a 2023 race deal with experienced German driver Nico Hulkenberg.

With French media reporting that Pierre Gasly is signed up for Alpine next year, facilitated by Nyck de Vries’ reported Alpha Tauri deal, sources in Germany claim that a 2023 Haas deal for on-sabbatical Hulkenberg is also a near-certainty.

When asked about the status of his talks with Haas about keeping his race seat, Mick Schumacher said in Singapore: “The status is that we will of course announce it if there is something to announce.”

Boss Steiner agrees that his short-list of candidates for 2023 is still in play.

“Our list includes drivers who have a super license and we are looking at them all,” he told Sky Deutschland. “Nico is one of them.

“But Mick is also still on the list because otherwise we would have already made a decision. We still have to see what the best decision is for the team going forward,” Steiner added.

He insists there is no “deadline” for the finalisation of his and team owner Gene Haas’ deliberations.

When asked by Bild am Sonntag newspaper if Haas remains Schumacher’s first point of contact, the 23-year-old German answered: “There is nothing new there either.”

As for whether the ongoing uncertainty is causing unrest at Haas, Schumacher insisted: “No, that doesn’t distract us.

“I think the team knows what I can do and where we want to go. We have all the data, so the facts are on the table.

“Pressure was always part of my life and my sporting career. I like to take that pressure and turn it into extra motivation and drive.”

Nico Hulkenberg is a front-running candidate to replace Mick Schumacher at Haas next season, multiple sources have told ESPN.

Hulkenberg last raced full-time in F1 with Renault in 2019 but has made a handful of substitute appearances for Racing Point and Aston Martin in the years since as a COVID-19 stand-in.

Sources have told ESPN that Magnussen has endorsed the move given the experience Hulkenberg, who has 181 F1 race starts to this name, would bring the team.

Ferrari reserve driver Giovinazzi took part in Friday practice for Haas at the Italian Grand Prix and will do so ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix in October, but Steiner has downplayed the significance of those tests, saying Ferrari asked for him to get some mileage in new F1 cars.