Mick Schumacher has good possibility of F1 return with Mercedes and McLaren, feels former driver

Ralf Schumacher reckons his nephew Mick Schumacher has a good chance of getting another seat in F1 because of his association with both Mercedes and McLaren.

The young German drove for Haas last season but ran out of favour with team principal Guenther Steiner. Schumacher was eventually replaced by Nico Hulkenberg for the upcoming season and is out of a drive for 2023.

Mercedes picked him up as their reserve driver for the 2023 season. Soon after, it was announced that Schumacher's services will be shared by both McLaren and Mercedes this season. Talking to Sky Sports Germany, Ralf Schumacher said about his nephew being associated with both McLaren and Mercedes:

"It's great for the teams to have someone like Mick. He knows his stuff; he knows the tracks. Mick comes straight out of the car. It's also a good one for his possibility. With four chances (two drivers each for Mercedes and McLaren) there is a greater chance that he might be able to drive."

When asked if it's easy for a driver to determine if a car is good or bad in the first few laps, Ralf said:

"You could really tell in the first five laps how the car is. Unfortunately, it was more often negative than positive in my career (laughs). But you really knew it straight away. Like that nice as it often looks, you knew that there was another huge problem, and that it would all take a long time."

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Ralf Schumacher backs Mercedes to return to front

Ralf Schumacher reckons there's a strong possibility of Mercedes returning to the front of the grid. The German team made significant progress last season and could continue to do that this season too. Schumacher said:

"We should have Mercedes on our list. They managed to bring their car back in the budget without test drives and to recognise the deficits. They also have a very strong driver pairing. The set size Red Bull will be with Max Verstappen - there's no doubt about that. This is the team to beat."

He added:

"At Ferrari, there's always a little surprise box. That can sometimes be super strong. However, it has to be said that both drivers made a lot of mistakes after mistakes. The team made mistakes too. There are some deficits."

Red Bull and Ferrari will also be involved in a battle at the front of the grid. It remains to be seen which team holds the advantage in what could be a very close title battle.