Kevin Magnussen: Mick Schumacher deserves to stay at Haas in F1

The German drivers contract falls due at the end of the 2022 F1 season and the Haas team are yet to confirm if Schumacher will be staying or leaving.

The 23-year-old Schumacher has spent two years at Haas and this season picked up his first points for the team, but has also had some costly crashes which has not gone unnoticed by team bosses.

A few days ago, Haas team owner Gene Haas said: "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.

"If he wants to stay with us, he's got to show us that he can score some more points. That's what we are waiting for."

On Thursday chatting to reporters ahead of Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix, Magnussen threw his support behind Schumacher, and said: "I think he's been really improving over the year. He started off maybe not really liking the car and lacking a bit of confidence, but he's really gained that.

"Lately he's been super hard to beat for me. I think, the way he's driving right now, he definitely deserves a place on the grid. But again, it's totally out of my hands and I can only sort of wish him well."

In race results, Schumacher has scored in only two of 18 races, with 12 points compared to the 22 of Magnussen.

Magnussen is expecting Austin's Circuit of the Americas to suit their car this weekend.

"I think we generally are happier with high downforce tracks, and this is a high downforce track, so hopefully we can be a bit more competitive," Magnussen said.

"I think lately, some of the other teams have kind of moved ahead of us in terms of outright performance but that doesn't mean we can't fight them and have a chance against them."