Kevin Magnussen believes Mick Schumacher "definitely deserves" a seat in Formula 1 as uncertainty over his future continues.

Recently, Haas owner Gene Haas was pretty blunt in his criticism of the German, stating he "costs a fortune" after his various crashes this year and doesn't deliver enough points.

His comments came as Nico Hulkenberg has been linked to a return for 2023 and team boss Guenther Steiner practically begged Daniel Ricciardo to give him a call.

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But Magnussen supported his teammate, believing he has shown enough progress to warrant a third year at Haas.  

“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 on Thursday, ahead of the team's home race in Austin.

“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, 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.”

Haas' frustration at a lack of points can't be solely blamed on Schumacher as the team themselves have slipped down the competitive order as their midfield rivals have improved.

In fact, the team has failed to score since both drivers finished in the top 10 in Austria back in July, though Magnussen is hopeful of a stronger weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.

“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,” said the Dane.

“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.”

Recent strong results for Aston Martin have dropped Haas down to tied-eighth in the Constructors' standing with AlphaTauri.