Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher won’t “go away” from Formula 1, with racing legend Mario Andretti believing that the German driver is far too talented to be forgotten about.
Schumacher’s two years at Haas were challenging for the driver, who spent the entirety of his rookie year in 2021 at the back of the field, after the Americans sacrificed the entire season to fully focus on the new aerodynamic regulations.
Whilst Schumacher was able to gain experience of the actual circuits, he wasn’t in a position where he could practice racecraft, or actually be amongst other cars.
Haas were the backmarkers in 2021 by some margin, which often resulted in Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin being lonely at the back of the field.
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A rookie can only learn so much from that experience, with 2022 having been more of a debut season for the German.
Last season, Schumacher got his first real taste of what it was like to challenge for points and push for a place in Q2, with the Americans having had a competitive package.
Unfortunately, he made mistakes far too often and was ultimately dropped by Haas following the 2022 season, with the team having opted not to extend his contract.
Given that he was told of his fate at Haas so late in the year, no other seats were available for the German, leaving him to search for a reserve role.
Mercedes quickly swooped in and signed the 23-year-old as their reserve driver for 2023, a move that could work very well in his favour.
Schumacher has expressed his intent on returning to the grid in 2024, with Andretti being certain that “someone will take him”, perhaps hinting at a future move by the likely Andretti F1 team.
“I’m sure that someone will take him”, Andretti told Germany’s RTL.
“Talents like that don’t go away.
“I think Mick has improved enormously, especially over the past season, no question. And that was evident in his performance.”
Prior to Schumacher’s departure from Haas, the German was interestingly linked to AlphaTauri, despite at the time still being part of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
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A switch to the Red Bull sister team was ultimately ruled out due to “political reasons”; however, Tost was very interested in signing the young German.
“Schumacher was an issue [of conversation] for me, personally,” Tost said.
“I would actually have liked to have Mick in the car. Mick is talented and also has what it takes to drive successfully in F1.”