Audi would prefer to offer Schumacher a seat as early as next year'.

Audi announced during the weekend before the Belgian Grand Prix that it will be working in F1 as an engine supplier from 2026. The deal with Sauber has not been made official yet, but Alfa Romeo already announced that it will no longer be title sponsor of Sauber after 2023. This clears the way for Audi. According to information from F1 Insider, Audi will announce before the Singapore Grand Prix that it will acquire 75 percent of the Sauber team.

The acquisition of Sauber also means that Audi wants to influence the future drivers. Audi boss Markus Duesmann has already confirmed that there is a preference for a fellow countryman. F1-Insider has learned that Audi does not want just any German driver, but that they are interested in Schumacher. The brand would prefer to put the Haas driver in the Sauber car (now Alfa Romeo) already next year, but Audi does not want to break the valid contracts of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese driver's contract has not yet been renewed, but Zhou is said to have impressed the team.

Little room in 2023

So there seems to be no place for Schumacher at the team in 2023, so he will have to convince Haas and team principal Guenther Steiner of his talent to stay with the team for another year. A gap year does not seem to be an option for the German. Alpine seems to have set its sights on Pierre Gasly, so there is little chance of Schumacher joining them. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said at Zandvoort that the team is keeping an eye on Schumacher, but with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell there is no place for the German for the time being.