Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has said Mick Schumacher could race for the Scuderia in Formula One as early as 2023.
However, Binotto stressed that it is important to give Schumacher time to develop and to get to grips with competing in Formula One.
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Specifically, he said that, based on Schumacher’s track record in the feeder series, he expects him to have a “very difficult” first season before showing his talent in his second year.
“I think it will be very difficult for him at the start,” Binotto said in an end-of-season virtual media conference.
“If I look at his past experience in both F2 and F3, normally he is delivering his best in the second season and not the first.
“I think Mick, the way he has developed himself, is learning a lot in the first season and becomes very strong in the second half of the second season. That’s why I think two seasons will be important for him.
“But already in the second, I’m expecting to see progress compared to the first one.
“I’m really expecting him to prove how fast he is in an F1 context, both in qualifying and the race, to prove he is very strong in race pace and consistent in terms of bringing the car home in a good position,” the Ferrari team principal added.
Continuing, he stressed that their ultimate goal is for Mick Schumacher to drive for the Ferrari works team – and he suggested this could happen as early as 2023.
“The Ferrari Driver Academy was not created to raise Formula 1 drivers, but the next driver for Ferrari. Today it is too early to decide but there are the premises to see Mick in red in 2023.”
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