The Haas F1 Team is likely to confirm this week that Nico Hulkenberg will race alongside Kevin Magnussen at the US outfit next season, with the team therefore dropping Mick Schumacher.
Rumors of Hulkenberg's return to the grid in 2023 have been gathering pace for several weeks, but reports in Germany are now claiming that a formal announcement is expected on Wednesday ahead of the start of F1's final race weekend of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Schumacher's future with Haas was called into question as far back as last spring following the young German's costly crash in the Monaco Grand Prix, his second write-off of 2022 after his first smash-up in Jeddah.
In the wake of the high-profile incident, Haas team boss Guenther Steiner read Schumacher the riot act, after which the 23-year-old settled down and gradually improved his performance, scoring his first career points in F1 at Silverstone and in Austria.
But overall, the young German's development in F1 has been slow and inconsistent, while the damage costs associated with his mistakes have inevitably weighed on his chances of retaining his seat with Haas.
Hulkenberg and Ferrari protégé Antonio Giovinazzi emerged as the two candidates most likely to replace Schumacher. But the German driver's vast experience is seen as a strong asset for Haas which needs to reliable drivers capable of consistently scoring points.
The Hulk, 35, enjoyed his last full season in F1 in 2019 with Renault. In 2020, he replaced Covid-stricken Racing Point drivers Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll at three races.
This year, Hulkenberg remained in the wings as Aston Martin's reserve but was called up at the start of the team's 2022 campaign to substitute for Sebastian Vettel – who had tested positive for Covid - in the first two races of the season, in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia.
Hulkenberg holds an unenviable record in F1 as the driver who has undertaken the greatest number of race starts in his career - 181 - without ever clinching a podium.
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