Mick Schumacher has been confirmed as Mercedes’ reserve driver after his contract with Ferrari was mutually terminated. The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari’s programme back in 2019 after impressing in the F3 Championship with Prema Racing.
He continued his progress with two eye-catching seasons in F2 before taking the 2020 title, beating the likes of Yuki Tsunoda, Nikita Mazepin and Guanyu Zhou. His reward was a seat with Haas for the 2021 season, but the American-based team struggled to put together a competitive car and were the only team not to score a championship point.
Haas improved significantly in 2022 as Kevin Magnussen returned to replace Mazepin, but Schumacher struggled to match the experienced racer. Guenther Steiner called out Schumacher on a number of occasions to step up his performances, but the German ultimately couldn’t keep his seat heading into the 2023 season.
Nico Hulkenberg will replace Schumacher at Haas and the 23-year-old has now had his Ferrari contract “mutually terminated”. Ferrari’s statement read: “Mick joined the Ferrari family through the young driver programme in 2019 and, as an FDA driver, competed in Formula 2 for two seasons with the Prema Racing team.
“He won three races and secured the 2020 championship title. The following year, he made his Formula 1 debut with the Haas F1 Team. He raced for the team for two years, starting in 43 races and scoring 12 points, finishing sixth in this year’s Austrian Grand Prix and eighth in the British Grand Prix.
“In addition, he covered the role of reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari for the 2022 Formula 1 season. Scuderia Ferrari thanks Mick for these four years and the many kilometres covered together, and wishes him all the best for the future.”
And it’s now been confirmed that he’s switching to Mercedes for the 2023 season as a reserve driver for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The Silver Arrows also stated that Schumacher will attend all Grands Prix throughout the year as well as working in the simulator at Brackley.
The deal only appears to apply for one year with Schumacher likely hoping to regain a seat in F1 for 2024. Schumacher said: “I am thrilled to be part of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team as their reserve driver for 2023, and I am committed to give it my all to contribute to their performance in this very competitive and professional environment.
“I take this as a new start, and I am just excited and grateful to Toto and everybody involved for putting their trust in me. F1 is such a fascinating world, and you never stop learning, so I look forward to absorbing more knowledge and putting in all my efforts for the benefit of the Mercedes team.”
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