Mick Schumacher admitted the owner of the Haas team was right when he said the sport "doesn't allow" for rookies to be given time to grow.
After just two years with the team, the young German's Formula 1 career is in jeopardy. Team principal Guenther Steiner decided to replace him with the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg for 2023, leaving Schumacher without a drive for next season.
That decision came after Gene Haas, the owner, gave the impression he was against the idea of giving young drivers too much time to develop. He said in October : "In this sport, being kind of a rookie driver, the sport just doesn't allow it – it's just too expensive.
"If you make any mistakes in driver selection, or strategy, or tyre selection, it is costing you millions of dollars. 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."
After being let go by Haas, Schumacher says he agrees with those comments made by the team owner. "He's definitely right about that," the 23-year-old admitted in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport.
"Formula 1 is a sport where you have to push yourself to the limit. In order to find the limit, you sometimes have to go beyond it. There are therefore many people in the scene who say that it takes a young pilot at least three years to fit in. I agree.
"Formula 1 is of a completely different calibre than any other racing category that I have driven before. I've felt more comfortable every time I've gotten into the car. You could also see that in my positive trend. [Haas' criticism] didn't increase the pressure.
"Points were a goal for all of us. We had enough opportunities to deliver them, but unfortunately there were also enough reasons why it didn't fit too often. We could have scored a lot more points if one or the other situation had turned out differently."
He went on to agree with the suggestion that F1, on the whole, "lacks patience" when it comes to dealing with up-and-coming racers. Schumacher added: "Possibly yes. Of course, I don't know how other young drivers were treated and I can only speak from my own experience. It needs time."
