Jean Alesi firmly believes Mick Schumacher is good enough to remain in Formula 1, with the German's current Haas contract expiring at the end of the year.

The Haas car has been much improved in 2022 and that has meant the team has been able to challenge for points regularly, with Kevin Magnussen returning and quickly getting back up to speed with the sport.

Indeed, at the start of the campaign, Mick was finding it challenging to get on the points board but after a couple of big crashes in Saudi Arabia and Monaco respectively, he seems to have found a good level now of both consistency and speed, with him scoring at the British and Austrian Grands Prix.

Whether it's enough to see him remain at Haas for next year, though, remains to be seen with no agreement reached yet on a new contract for past the end of this campaign, and so, of course, there is a chance we might not even see Mick on the grid for 2023.

Alesi, though, believes the young German warrants a spot in the field next year:

"For many reasons when I speak about him, it's like if I speak about my son," Alesi said to Give Me Sport.

"He has not just the name, he won [the title] in European F3 and F2.

"Last year, the car was not competitive. This year he has a competitive car and a very strong teammate. So at the beginning of the championship, it was difficult for him to be in the correct window, and he had some impressive shunts.

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA - JULY 08: Mick Schumacher of Germany driving the (47) Haas F1 VF-22 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on July 08, 2022 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

"And Formula 1 is tough when you are making mistakes like that, especially now with the budget cap. The teams are struggling when the shunts are too big, but now he has good speed, he is [getting] in the points. So I'm sure he has all the capacity and the talent to continue in Formula 1. The worst moments of being in Formula 1 are behind him now."

Once the summer break ends, Mick, along with the other 19 drivers, has a triple-header to contend with and he'll want to use that to get good results and build momentum for the final throes of the campaign.

Those races could decide if he stays at Haas or earns a seat elsewhere for 2023, and so a big few weeks await.

The 2022 Formula 1 world championship resumes with the Belgian Grand Prix on Aug 26-28.