Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mick Schumacher knew the 'writing was on the wall' ahead of his axing from Haas.
Schumacher featured alongside Nikita Mazepin and Kevin Magnussen during his two-year stint with the American-owned team.
After a difficult 2022 season that was punctuated by high-cost crashes in Saudi Arabia and Monaco, the German was replaced by countryman Nico Hulkenberg.
Explaining the decision, Steiner told iNews, “I just sat down with him and explained that we needed to bring the team forward with an experienced driver.
"It is part of the job. It is not a nice thing to do. I don’t enjoy it but you just have to be professional about it.
“Dealing with a Schumacher is not easy, as you can imagine. He was grown up about it. He wasn’t happy.
"I would say he saw the writing on the wall. He is a clever kid. He had two years. We didn’t get where we wanted to and I had to make some changes. You cannot beat up a dead horse."