Replacement of Mick Schumacher at Mercedes: win-win or career setback?

Updated on 07/01/2023 12:03

• Mick Schumacher will be reserve driver at Mercedes in 2023.
• A parallel running program is out of the question for the 23-year-old.
• Does Mercedes’ commitment make sense to return to the starting grid as a regular driver in 2024?

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Mick Schumacher makes no compromises, the 23-year-old doesn’t do things by halves. Although in 2023, ironically from now on, he won’t be doing the very thing that makes a runner – racing. Because Schumacher is in the new Formula 1 season as a reserve driver at Mercedes. With whom he is only a supporting actor in the queen class.

For him, however, there is still no alternate role that he is fully focused on. “I’m not interested in driving anything other than Formula 1. Once you’ve tasted the best, you don’t want to settle for less,” Schumacher told GPFans. Schumacher goes all out for his big dream.

He had not received a new contract with Haas after last season and was replaced by Nico Hulkenberg in the American racing team. So now he’s stepping back so he can ideally make two side forwards this year. In other words, he wants to position himself with the Silver Arrows in order to attack again in 2024. “I will be 99% in all races next season to position myself to be back on the grid in 2024. “Schumacher said.

Clean an option for 2024?

Maybe at Sauber? The racing team is working closely with Audi, the Ingolstadt company is taking over shares in the team in order to join the works team in 2026. So with Schumacher at the helm of a German team? Audi is not showing its cards yet. “[Ein deutscher Pilot] would of course be attractive, but for us the performance of the drivers comes first,” Adam Baker, head of Audi’s Formula 1 project, told the dpa. We’re not even talking about the drivers for 2024, so Baker. so it’s very difficult to say how the driver market will evolve in 2026,” Baker said.

How logical does Schumacher not race in 2023 in order to put everything on the Formula 1 map with a spare role? Guy Sebastian Vettel points out at ServusTV that this is a completely different role. “Obviously the third driver is not what you want because you’re not racing. But I think now he has an opportunity to learn a lot, from the team, from the other drivers. And yes, I think That’s up to him to decide.” work very hard and come back,” Vettel said.

In any case, Schumacher has a great advocate in the person of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff: “mic is a very talented young pilot, a hard worker with a calm and methodical approach. He is eager to learn and improve as a driver. These are all important qualities for us.”

Uncle Ralf on Mick Schumacher: “A great opportunity”

Mick’s uncle Ralph Schumacher sees the replacement driver job as “a great opportunity”, as the former Formula 1 driver explained to Sport1. He can look over the shoulder of a top team at work and learn a lot, says Ralf Schumacher. And: “As a reserve driver, he has to replace a regular driver if he fails. We have had this situation more often in the last three years.”

Same goes for regular drivers Lewis Hamilton or George Russell are absent, Mick Schumacher would intervene. “Lewis Hamilton is still an absolute top driver, but he’s not the youngest anymore. The ravages of time eat away at it. So you never know. I think it’s a win-win situation for the team and Mick,” said Ralf Schumacher, who sees “exciting possibilities” for 2024: “Mercedes not only has its own team, but also partner teams that you can influence.”

Norbert Haug: “Everything is possible for Mick”

Former Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug also considers Mick Schumacher’s switch to Mercedes to be “a real fluke. Nothing is impossible if Mick is focused, diligent and willing to learn when he gets on. task attack, and that’s exactly what I’m guessing,” the 70-year-old wrote in his Germany Editorial Network column.

Schumacher will take this opportunity to learn and train with the best and make the most of it, says Haug: “If everything goes as the parties involved imagine, then anything is possible for Mick.” And that’s why Schumacher won’t compromise in 2023.

Sources used:

• sport1.de: “A big chance for Mick”
• gpfans.com: Schumacher refuses to settle for less than F1
• rnd.de: Five theses for 2023 with Norbert Haug: Why F1 has become a “tragedy” in Germany