(Motorsport) Mick Schumacher, son of the legendary seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher has recently lost his seat with Haas Formula 1 team but could now join the Mercedes team as a reserve driver for the 2023 season. The 23 year old German has been a part of the Ferrari Drivers Academy since 2019 but could now follow his father’s footsteps, who spent the last three years of his career at Mercedes. The prospect of Schumacher joining Mercedes is quite realistic, especially considering that he is a free agent and Nyck de Vries, who was the Mercedes reserve driver, has left for a seat at AlphaTauri for the 2023 season.
Australian racing driver Daniel Ricciardo was also linked to the role but the 33 year old has now re-joined Red Bull Racing, which means Mick Schumacher is a realistic prospect to fill that vacant role at Mercedes. Mercedes Chief Executive Toto Wolff has already said that it’s up to Schumacher and his manager Sabine Kehm to take up the deal even though no terms have been agreed between the two parties.
Sadly, it finally looks like the relationship between Ferrari and Schumacher will come to an end as the German driver simply hasn’t performed well enough in the 2022 season, despite showing signs of improvement. He finished eighth and sixth in back-to-back races in Britain and Austria but couldn’t improve on that tally and was outperformed by teammate Kevin Magnussen by 13 points.
“Mick is someone that has always been close to our heart because of Michael or the whole Schumacher family. He (Mick) is an intelligent, well-mannered young man. He’s been very successful in junior formulas. We believe that we can look after him if the situation were to happen and with someone that just fits the team.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal and CEO
“I think he deserves a place and now we have to see if we can do something. We haven’t really put pen to paper, we haven’t really come anywhere close to any terms. I’m seeing it that openly because I think he just fits and now we need to make it happen, if he wants to, Sabine wants to and then we see where that goes.”
“Mick, first, is a great driver. I think he has always progressed through his career and I think he has as well progressed during the current season. If you look back at how he started, where he is ending, I think he has shown that he’s capable of progressing. We as Ferrari and Ferrari Driver Academy believe he is a great driver now. After Haas has somehow decided for a different choice for the next season, we will need to sit down with Mick really, trying to decide what’s the best for the future.
Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto
“I think the decision is really what would be best for him. We do not have any seat to offer him right now and I think what’s most important when you’re so young in your career is to make sure that you get the best opportunity for you. So we’ll be fully open to different choices but something that obviously now we need to sit down with and to conclude.”
Also read: Daniel Ricciardo set to return to Red Bull in a reserve role for 2023
