Motorsport) Mick Schumacher, son of legendary Formula 1 racer Michael Schumacher lost his seat at Haas after two years on the grid and was subsequently taken by Mercedes as a backup option for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The Silver Arrows have now come to an arrangement with McLaren which means that Mick Schumacher will be reserve driver for both teams for the 2023 season. McLaren have previously had similar arrangements with other teams as Mercedes reserve Nyck de Vries was on standby for McLaren last season while Lando Norris recovered from illness.
McLaren confirmed the news about Mick Schumacher and said that the team’s boss Andrea Stella had “worked closely with Mick’s father, the legendary Michael Schumacher, as his performance engineer”. The arrangement is undoubtedly good news for Mick Schumacher under the circumstances, as he will have the opportunity to test both the cars and has more chances of filling in rather than being reserve driver for one team. Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are expected to be first choice drivers for the next few seasons which means Schumacher’s chance of featuring on the grid as a permanent driver is only possible if the German moves to a different team.
Previously, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had said that he will be open to letting Schumacher leave if the German gets the opportunity to find a permanent seat in another Formula 1 team. It can be said that Haas was not the right move for Schumacher on his entry in Formula 1 as the manufacturer has perennially underperformed and expectations were high from Schumacher due to his father’s legacy. Had Schumacher featured in Alfa Romeo or Alpha Tauri, relatively stable teams in the middle of the grid, Schumacher might have fared better and advanced his Formula 1 career quicker.
When asked about his decision to sign Schumacher, Wolff said “The most important factor is his personality. He’s a well-educated, intelligent and talented young man. You can see his junior career track record was very good and I believe that if we can give him a safe environment to further develop, he can be a good racing driver in a permanent seat in the future.”
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