Magnussen backs Schumacher: “He definitely deserves a place on the grid"
The identity of Magnussen’s teammate for next season is still unknown with Schumacher fighting for his F1 future.
Schumacher remains in contention to remain with Haas for next year, while Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin’s current reserve driver, is a potential alternative.
Hulkenberg’s experience and guaranteed points scoring ability is thought to be appealing to Haas, while Schumacher has made significant gains in the second half of the season.
Team boss Guenther Steiner has insisted that Schumacher’s future is in his own hands, however, has urged him to score points in the remaining four races.
Speaking in the FIA press conference in Austin for the United States Grand Prix on Thursday, Magnussen voiced his support for his current teammate.
“First of all, I haven’t had any influence on what’s been going on with drivers - that’s totally out of my hands,” he said.
“If I just look at Mick, I think he’s really been improving all 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, [with] 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 just wish him well.”
After a tough run of races, scoring no points since Austria, Haas have dropped to eighth in the championship standings.
They are level on points with AlphaTauri in the race for eighth overall.
“I think we are generally more happy with higher downforce tracks, and this is a higher downforce track, so hopefully we can be a bit more competitive,” he added.
“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.”
“It’s very tight in terms of points. Even the next position up, P7, if you just look at the points, it’s not so much, but it’s so hard for us to score points at the moment. But we’re going to do our best, of course.”
