German Mick Schumacher will no longer be Mercedes’ reserve driver in F1, a position he has held for two seasons, next year the team indicated on Thursday on the sidelines of the Qatar Grand Prix. The 25-year-old driver, son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, joined the German team after finding himself without a seat after two lackluster seasons in the American team Haas (2021-2022).
“Mick’s hard work and determination in his role as reserve driver have been vital to the team over the last two years. From day one, he integrated perfectly into the team and we could not have expected anything more from him. But Mick is above all a driver and we saw during his seasons in F1 and this year in endurance that he was a very high level driver,” said Toto Wolff, Mercedes boss.
In parallel with his mission at Mercedes, Mick Schumacher had indeed discovered this season the world endurance championship (WEC) in the premier Hypercar category within the French team Alpine, notably winning a podium during the Six Fuji (Japan) times in September.
He extends his adventure with Alpine in endurance
“I would like to thank Toto and the entire Mercedes team. They definitely made me a more experienced driver because I had to take a closer look at engineering. But watching these cars and not sitting in the seat was difficult. As a driver, what you want is to compete in races because that’s what gives you the sensations you like,” Schumacher emphasized.
Alpine made it official on Thursday that the German would be part of one of its two crews entered in the WEC in 2025.
Valtteri Bottas, whose contract was not extended by Sauber, is expected to return to Mercedes as a reserve driver. The Finn has already played five seasons in the German team (2017-2021), winning 10 Grands Prix and finishing twice as vice-world champion behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
