Despite leaving Haas, Mick Schumacher will stay in Formula 1. The 23-year-old will be a reserve driver for Mercedes and Ralf Schumacher sees a great opportunity in his nephew’s new job suggesting that his nephew would be set to replace Lewis Hamilton. The TV pundit also took a jibe at the US racing team Haas.
“For a change, he has a team that is happy that he is there,” Ralf Schumacher said on Sky Sports Germany, obviously targeting Haas.
The US racing team stalled Mick Schumacher for a long time towards the end of last season, whilst it was obvious that they had long made their decision to ditch Schumacher, as detailed by his replacement, fellow German Nico Hulkenberg.
In the end, they announced their separation at the latest possible moment. In addition, team boss Günther Steiner repeatedly criticised the driver in public.
Ralf Schumacher sees his nephew in good hands at Mercedes. “It’s a win-win situation,” the 47-year-old clarified and added: “It’s a great opportunity for Mick because he’s joining an experienced team with experienced team-mates.”
Mercedes is the best place to learn
As a reserve driver, Mick can take part in various meetings during the races, “he also has free access to all the radios as well as data and experiences how strategies are discussed,” Schumacher continued:
“It’s great that he can learn so much there.”
The former F1 driver also hinted that Mick may not only be used as a reserve driver at Mercedes. The 23-year-old is also an option for the customer teams.
Nyck de Vries showed the possibilities of a Mercedes replacement driver last season: the Dutchman stepped in at Williams, impressed straight away and now has a regular cockpit for 2023 at AlphaTauri.
Schumacher also believes his nephew can return as a regular driver, perhaps even at Mercedes as the youngster is in the best possible position to replace even Lewis Hamilton.
“What you can’t ignore is that Lewis Hamilton is going into his last season for now,” says the 47-year-old.
Audi could become a target for Mick Schumacher
Mick could also become a target at Audi. The German car giant will field a works team from 2026, has already bought into the historic racing team Sauber – and expressly wants to compete with a German driver.
“That could be an issue, as there is no German driver on the market apart from Mick,” said Schumacher, who stressed:
“But that is still up in the air. Where he is now, he is in perfect hands.”
I am keen to see how well Mick performs and if he could be better than Hamilton. But one thing is certain. Mick is bound to be a far better human being with more endearing qualities.
HahHahahahahahahahaha, what a clown.
replacing Lewis ? lmao. Mick is one of the most untalented drivers in the paddock.
Your comment overfloweth your ignorance. Yes, Mick didn’t “perform” well with Haas, and yes, very true he crashed too much. Funny how both of those outcomes are so directly related to the overall set-up of the car, something Haas really has nobody within the team to truly guide them down the proper path to get this right.
Let’s not forget that in 2021 Haas fielded unchanged 2020 machinery, which wasn’t ever a good car in 2020. They followed this up for 2022 with the all new regulations car which despite their efforts (& kicking away the 2021 season while they developed their 2022 car) the new car wasn’t much better. This left the kid on the back foot to the point that feeling the pressure, he’d end up over driving the car beyond the limited capabilities it had, what with a poor setup and no driver within the Haas mix to legally give the team a boost in this regard, often resulting in a spin, an off track moment, or another big shunt. Yes, these things took place, but before you spout off that he’s “untalented”, let’s consider what he was given to work with, which I’m sad to say wasn’t much.
Caro Ralf mi dispiace per te ma Lewis e troppo forte per essere allontanato dalla Mercedes….per molto tempo