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Mick Schumacher could not secure a seat for the 2023 Formula 1 season. The driver's contract with Haas ran out and was not extended, and he was swiftly replaced by Nico Hulkenberg. He will be sticking around the F1 paddocks nevertheless, as he has secured a reserve driver role at Mercedes.
Schumacher will undoubtedly be frustrated by the way things have played out for him. While his 2022 F1 season at Haas was not extraordinary by any means, he fared relateively well in the second half of the season. Post his 2022 F1 Monaco GP crash, he outscored his teammate and veteran driver Kevin Magnussen 12-10.
That chapter is now in the past and the German has to look to the future and try to navigate his way back to the F1 grid. He has a resume that should make him an interesting prospect, being one of the few drivers on the F1 grid to have won both the F2 and F3 championships en route to F1. That "Schumacher" name is also a selling point and comes with commercial mileage.
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So, can Mick Schumacher make a comeback to F1? Let's find out.
Does the Mercedes reserve driver role help in getting a seat in the future?
The answer to that question is that it does. Mercedes, as a team, has a lot of influence on the F1 grid. One of the key examples was former Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries doing the young driver tests at Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Williams as well this season. Toto Wolff has a pretty good record of helping his young drivers secure a seat on the F1 grid. He did that Pascal Wehrlein, he helped Esteban Ocon secure the seat at Renault, and he's helped Nyck De Vries get an opportunity at Williams this year.
To add to this, working at a more structured team like Mercedes where everything is done in the most efficient way is going to be a learning experience for Mick Schumacher. Working alongside two elite drivers in George Russell and Lewis Hamilton is going to help him as well.
Most importantly though, as a Mercedes reserve driver, Mick Schumacher will be in the F1 paddock and within sight of all the key F1 figures (out of sight, out of mind, right?). That presence plays a big role in securing your future on the F1 grid.
What are the possible options for the 2024 F1 season?
To secure a seat on the F1 grid, a seat needs to be available on the grid as well. Looking ahead to the end of the 2023 F1 season, the possible openings could be at
- AlphaTauri (if Tsunoda or De Vries have a bad season)
- Aston Martin (if the Fernando Alonso partnership capitulates)
- Alfa Romeo/Sauber/Audi
A seat at AlphaTauri is a possibility if either or both Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries have a bad season with the team. Lest we forget, Tsunoda lost to Mick Schumacher in F2 and his first two seasons haven't blown anything out of the water. There could be a possibility that a third bad season with the team will see Tsunoda losing his seat altogether.
Nyck de Vries too will need to be careful here, because he's not joining the team as a fresh young prospect. He's much older than the drivers that tend to drive for AlphaTauri, and if the first season with the team does not impress, it would be a hard sell to keep him around for much longer.
Aston Martin was one of the names that popped up as a possible destination for Mick Schumacher early in the season when Fernando Alonso had not been signed. Aston Martin is an interesting proposition, and the volatile nature of Alonso and Lawrence Stroll could mean that a complete breakdown of the relationship is surely on the table, leaving a spot open for Mick.
Alfa Romeo/Sauber/Audi might just be the best possible option for Mick. The German is young, and Audi has made it clear that it would look at possible German options. Then there is the fact that the Audi influence will start taking over by the end of the season (Seidl getting signed is one example). Mick Schumacher moving to the future German squad seems like a match made in heaven.
Does Mick Schumacher have a shot at any of these seats?
In all fairness, Mick Schumacher moving to Aston Martin or AlphaTauri does not seem like much of a possibility. The relationship between Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin is probably not going to break down in a single season, and if it does, it would be quite a shocking development.
In the case of AlphaTauri, Helmut Marko did concede that Mick Schumacher was not someone that was part of the team's plans in any which way. To add to this, it does appear that Liam Lawson is the young driver that could get the next push from Red Bull.
Finally, talking about Alfa Romeo/Sauber/Audi, this is arguably the best possible option for Mick Schumacher. He gets a seat on the F1 grid, he gets it with a big brand, and he gets to learn under the tutelage of an astute boss in Andreas Seidl. By all measures, that is a win-win situation for both. With Guanyu Zhou, a driver that Mick Schumacher beat in F2, driving one of the two cars, it does make sense to give an opportunity to the young driver that beat him in the junior categories if the Chinese star has a disappointing 2023 season.
Conclusion
In all fairness, it's tough to make a confident pick on whether Mick Schumacher will make a comeback on the F1 grid. Having said that, there is certainly a strong possibility of a Schumacher-Audi alliance if the German automotive is serious about having a German driver on the team in the future. Which team do you want to see Mick Schumacher drive for in the future? Let us know in the comments.
