Mick Schumacher has admitted that a full-time return to Formula 1 “remains the dream” despite being resigned to experiencing a second consecutive year not on the grid.
Schumacher embarked upon his F1 debut with the Haas team in 2021, but he was dropped at the end of his sophomore campaign in favour of Nico Hulkenberg.
The German was unable to secure a seat elsewhere and took on a reserve role at Mercedes last season, where he will remain in 2024 as the F1 roster stays unchanged.
While Schumacher has penned a deal to drive Alpine’s Hypercar in the World Endurance Championship, he reveals that reviving his F1 career is his main ambition.
When asked how he has managed to process losing his position with Haas at the end of 2022, Schumacher told F1: “I mean, it does include a lot of hair pulling and tearing, and I feel like you don’t really see that.
“Obviously, this is the first media table that I’ve done this year [and] that shows a lot and says a lot in that sense, but F1 has always been a dream and it will always remain the dream.
“Again, there is no reason to stay here, not race, fall behind everybody… I would rather go out there, find something to race and develop my skills. In the end, if that leads to no way back into F1 but leads to another career, then I am happy to do that.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff commended Schumacher’s “tremendous contribution” last year and believes that the ex-Formula 2 title winner “deserves to be on the grid” again.
Schumacher states that shadowing seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on race weekends with the marque has been a valuable experience.
“I guess the biggest point for me to elaborate on [is] I know as a driver now much more what I want from my team around me, from what I feel like I’m worth and what I can bring to a team,” Schumacher added.
“Obviously going into my first year in F1 it was kind of hard to know exactly what my position should be, and how far can I go with my comments and everything.
“Having worked with Lewis and George for one year now, I kind of know how high the bar is set and how far I can go, and I have no problem sharing my information in the future.”
Last June, Schumacher conducted his maiden test with Mercedes at Silverstone, over 10 years on from his seven-time champion father’s last Silver Arrows outing.
