Mick Schumacher is seemingly settling into life at Mercedes brilliantly, with the Silver Arrows having released pictures of the young German completing his 2023 seat fit, ahead of his role as the team’s official reserve driver.
Schumacher’s move to Mercedes came as a result of the 23-year-old being axed by Haas following the 2022 campaign, with the Americans having opted not to extend his contract.
The German’s sophomore season was an incredibly mixed one, with Schumacher having shown strong pace at times, whilst having also shown a tendency to make expensive errors.
Two heavy crashes at Saudi Arabia and Monaco seemingly put the team’s bosses against the German, with their treatment of the son of Michael Schumacher having been questioned.
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Schumacher was ultimately “surprised” to see Haas drop him in favour of Nico Hulkenberg; however, he’s set on returning to the grid in 2024.
“I was surprised,” Schumacher said.
“It didn’t feel like the last race of the season and it didn’t feel like my last race.
“My mind is pretty much settled on coming back in 2024 if not earlier in ’23
“I feel I’ve shown my pace and I know a lot of people are happy with how I’ve developed.”
Should Schumacher return to the grid next year then it will almost certainly not be at Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton set to remain with the team until at least 2025.
It means that the Germans will likely have to treat Schumacher similarly to former reserve driver Nyck de Vries, who is racing for AlphaTauri this season.
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is aware of this but is also certain that the Silver Arrows is a “safe environment” for the young German to “develop further”, something that’ll perhaps support his chances of finding a 2024 seat.
“I believe that if we can provide him with a safe environment to develop further, he can be a good driver in a full-time seat in the future,” Wolff told Dutch publication Formule 1.
“We had to let Nyck go in the same way for him to have a career, now that could also happen with Mick. Whether it’s with our team or whether we have to let him go, we don’t know yet.”