Mick Schumacher exit means Hulk is back in F1 2023

Aside from Sebastian Vettel, it looks like there's another German driver we won't see on the F1 grid for 2023.

Mick Schumacher has been dropped by the Haas F1 Team and will have his last race for the team this weekend at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Schumacher expressed his disappointment on a social media post but stressed he's not yet giving up on having a seat for next year.

After having his maiden points finishes in Silverstone and Austria early in the season, Mick has failed to score any since then and has had major crashes which definitely hurt the finances of the cash-strapped Haas team and his chances of being retained for 2023.

Currently, the only possible team that Schumacher can go to is Williams, but chances are looking slim for the son of 7-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher. Williams Racing previously confirmed their team is only waiting for American F2 driver Logan Sargeant to get enough super license points required to step up to F1. Sargeant will only need to finish 5th or 6th in the standings and have a clean race at the F2 support race in Abu Dhabi to accomplish the said requirement.

Mick Schumacher's replacement at Haas is another F1 driver from Germany, Nico Hulkenberg. The 35-year-old is returning as a full-time driver after sporadic but solid appearances as a substitute in the past three seasons. He previously stood in for Sebastian Vettel this year at Aston Martin after Seb had to be sidelined and quarantined.

Hulkenberg will be partnered by Kevin Magnussen, who has recently secured Haas' first-ever pole position in the Brazilian Grand Prix. The two have never been teammates before, but they have had memorable exchanges in the past that have since gone viral on social media. Coincidentally, both drivers' maiden pole positions in F1 happened at the Sao Paulo track, with Hulkenberg getting his when he was driving for Williams in 2010.

While a lot of fans will be sad about Mick Schumacher's departure from Haas, his replacement should be taken as an inspiration, showing that ex-F1 drivers still have a chance to make it back to the sport.