Nico Hulkenberg replaces Mick Schumacher for the 2023 F1 season

Formula One's American outfit Haas has confirmed the exit of Mick Schumacher and announced that he will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg for the 2023 F1 season.

Haas has confirmed that Schumacher will leave the team at the end of the current season following his two-year stint at the pinnacle of motorsport. The Swiss-born driver scored his first points at Silverstone with eighth, following that up with sixth at the following race in Austria. However, he has also had several crashes which have proved to be costly.

“This is going to be my last race with Haas F1 team," Schumacher wrote. "I don’t want to hide the fact that I am very disappointed about the decision not to renew our contract.

"Nevertheless, I would like to thank both Haas F1 and Ferrari for giving me this opportunity. Those years together have helped me to mature both technically and personally. And especially when things got difficult, I realised how much I love this sport.

"It was at times bumpy but steadily improved, learned a lot and now know for sure that I deserve a place in Formula 1. The subject is anything but closed for me. Setbacks only make you stronger. My fire burns for Formula 1 and I will fight hard to return to the starting grid.”

The American outfit have also announced that Hulkenberg will complete their driver line-up for the fothcoming F1 season. The German has not raced in the sport as a full-time driver since 2019 with Renault.

However, he has made appearances since then as deputised for Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez when they contracted coronavirus in 2020. He also replaced Sebastian Vettel at the start of the current season after the four-time world champion was sidelined due to COVID-19.

“I’m very happy to move into a full-time race seat with Haas F1 Team in 2023. I feel like I never really left Formula 1," said Hulkenberg.

"I’m excited to have the opportunity to do what I love the most again and want to thank Gene Haas and Günther Steiner for their trust. We have work ahead of us to be able to compete with all the other teams in the midfield, and I cannot wait to join that battle again.”

“The experience and knowledge base Nico brings to the team is clear to see – with nearly 200 career starts in Formula 1 – and a reputation as being a great qualifier and a solid, reliable racer. These are attributes, which when you pair them together with Kevin Magnussen’s experience, gives us a very credible and well-seasoned driver line-up which we believe will help push the team onwards up the grid.

"That’s obviously the goal and it was that ambition that has prompted Nico’s return to Formula 1 – he shares our vision and can be a key player together with the rest of the team in building on the foundations we’ve laid this year with our return to the points battle.”