Following the loss of his Formula 1 seat for the 2023 season, Mick Schumacher has found himself a new home in the Mercedes organisation. The German has taken on the role of reserve driver and will be present at all races next year in Silver Arrows uniform, having also parted ways with the Ferrari Driver Academy after four years.
During the final weeks of the 2022 campaign, talk of a potential Schumacher move to Mercedes grew ever louder as it became apparent that he was likely to depart Haas.
Ahead of the last race weekend of the season, Haas confirmed that it would part ways with the 2020 Formula 2 champion and instead link up with Nico Hulkenberg, who has been granted a return to the grid after three years on the sidelines.
But at 23 years of age, Schumacher is not in a position where he is ready to admit defeat to F1 and move onto another category. Already fixed on a return to the grid, Schumacher stated in Abu Dhabi that he was looking to move to a camp that would steer his career in the best direction.
“I just want to put myself into a position where I know it’s going to be right for me and whether that’s a reserve, if that’s driving, that’s to be discussed and to be analysed and I have the people that I trust around me who I will be consulting with,” Schumacher said.
Mercedes has given him refuge, and it the task comes at a vital time for both parties. Having either dominated or being in heavy championship contention for several years, Mercedes slipped up in 2022 and fell down the pecking order.
Beyond the midfield scuffles but beneath the capacity to mount a consistent challenge at the front of the field, it was stuck in No Man’s Land for much of the year and only tasted victory at the penultimate round from Brazil – 21 rounds into the season.
It appeared to be on the right track toward the end of the campaign, but it remained clear that there was still much work to do if it wanted to get back to the front of the field. Having lost its two back-ups in Nyck de Vries (to AlphaTauri) and Stoffel Vandoorne (who left the stable following Mercedes’ Formula E departure) it needed a firm replacement.
Schumacher’s sole focus next year will be on F1, as it appears he won’t have any separate racing programmes to keep him occupied. He will be solely focused on the task of assisting Mercedes with his recovery drop, while also keeping in touch with paddock movements and ensuring that his head is not out of the mix.
He also recently received high praise from Mercedes CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff, who has backed Schumacher to return to F1 in the near future.
“I really like Mick and I like the family – how they have raised their kids with this unbelievably famous name – and I think he deserves a chance,” he said. “He won [the F2 title] and that is not easy. Things can go against you in your first years in Formula 1. He was under pressure to deliver and that doesn’t help, and Formula 1 is brutal. Maybe, in a way, having a year off as a third driver – similar to what Daniel [Ricciardo] – can be good to reassess yourself and bring yourself in a better place and hopefully find a seat again.”
Schumacher can also take inspiration from his peers regarding a potential comeback to F1 – Esteban Ocon was nurtured back to a full-time position through Mercedes and Toto Wolff’s management after he was ousted from Racing Point at the end of 2018. Since his return he’s become a multi-time podium finishers as well as a one-time grand prix winner.
Alexander Albon too, despite having a difficult spell at Red Bull, was allowed back into the series last year with Williams and now has a multi-year deal under his belt to carry him forward.
His new surroundings, which are likely to contrast greatly from Haas, will provide him with new resources and fresh methods on how to approach the F1 world, which so far hasn’t been overly kind to him.
This opinion article originally appeared in issue 495 of our weekly digital motorsport magazine, Motorsport Monday. Completely free to read with no sign-up necessary, Motorsport Monday is published every Monday morning and is packed full of motorsport content. Check out the latest issue here.
