Mick Schumacher switches to Mercedes: New role in Formula 1

Created: 12/16/2022, 5:38 am

By: Christoph Klaucke

Mick Schumacher stays in Formula 1 and becomes a reserve driver at Mercedes.

© Hasan Bratic/dpa

Mick Schumacher will also be part of Formula 1 in the coming season. Schumi's son has signed a contract with Mercedes as a reserve driver.

Munich – Mick Schumacher remains in Formula 1.

The son of record world champion Michael Schumacher is switching to the top team Mercedes as a reserve driver.

The factory team announced this on Thursday.

The 23-year-old will be a colleague of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

If one of the two regular English drivers fails, Schumacher will take over the helm of the Silver Arrow in 2023.

Mick Schumacher: Change to Mercedes - "a kind of new beginning" in Formula 1

Mick Schumacher has signed a contract with Mercedes for the coming season and will work for the German car manufacturer, where his father Michael Schumacher ended his glorious career as a racing driver in 2012.

After two years with the US racing team Haas, Mick Schumacher had not received a new contract beyond the end of the year and had not found a place as a regular driver elsewhere.

Compatriot Nico Hülkenberg will take over his previous cockpit.

"I see this as a kind of fresh start," Schumacher said in a statement: "Formula 1 is a fascinating world where you never stop learning.

I'm looking forward to absorbing even more knowledge and giving everything for the benefit of the Mercedes team.” Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff sees in Schumacher a “talented young driver” and “a hard worker”.

He has "a calm and methodical approach and is still hungry to learn".

All of this will also help with the further development of the Mercedes W14.

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Mick Schumacher remains in Formula 1: Hamilton's replacement driver at Mercedes

Schumacher had repeatedly emphasized that he absolutely wanted to stay in the racing series.

However, the former Formula 2 champion could not recommend himself for higher tasks at Haas, and his contract in Ferrari's junior program was not renewed either.

The seats at the Scuderia are firmly assigned to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

At Mercedes, Schumacher is now a reserve man for Lewis Hamilton, who, like his father Michael, is a record world champion with seven world titles, and the second Briton, George Russell.

After a difficult year with two serious and expensive accidents in Saudi Arabia and Monaco, Haas decided against signing Schumacher.

Team boss Günther Steiner, who announced spicy revelations about Schumacher, and owner Gene Haas wanted a driver for the season beginning in March 2023 who could "carry" the racing team, but Schumacher should have been carried, said Steiner.

The German only scored points twice in 22 races this year and finished 16th in the drivers’ standings with twelve points.

Mick Schumacher: Mercedes as a temporary solution on the way to the Audi team?

In the medium term and with a view to the 2024 season, Schumacher is aiming to return to the starting grid.

Audi should also play a role here: the Ingolstadt-based company will provide a works team from 2026 and have already bought into the traditional Sauber racing team for this purpose.

In the future, Audi expressly wants to start with a German driver.