22 December 2023 , 11:37
1035
0
Mick Schumacher has a "very good opportunity" to work his way back onto the Formula 1 grid, according to Toto Wolff.
The Austrian has been young Schumacher's boss for the past year, since Haas decided to replace him. He spent two years racing for the back-marker team but, following a series of expensive crashes, team principal Guenther Steiner decided to bring in the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg.
It left the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher without a race seat and facing the prospect of his F1 career being over before it had properly begun. And, a year on, he remains in that same limbo.
A reserve role for Mercedes kept him in the paddock and his representatives spent much of the year marketing his services to teams up and down the grid. But timing was not on his side as 2023 was a year in which everyone stuck with the stars they had.
Facing a second year off the grid, young Schumacher decided he needed to get back to racing. So he has signed with Alpine for the French manufacturer's upcoming World Endurance Championship season. He'll also remain a reserve for Mercedes.
Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"
Wolff, who has been pleased with the 24-year-old's work in that role, has always spoken highly of the young driver. Referring to Schumacher's 2024 plans, he suggested the opportunity is there for him to prove he has what it takes to cut the mustard back in F1.
"I think him going into WEC, which is a world championship with a constructor, with Alpine, is a very good opportunity for him," he said in a Mercedes end-of-season video. "I believe he's going to do a perfect job and it keeps him sharp, racing, and maybe coming back into Formula 1."
Schumacher's father also had a stint in WEC during his own career. And Mick pointed out that parallel himself: "To be able to look back at what he's done with the Mercedes junior programme back in 1989, I think it was an interesting factor."
As for his ambition to return to F1, he feels he now has the opportunity to prove how much he has grown as a simulator and reserve driver for a top team like Mercedes. He added: "I guess the biggest point for me to elaborate on that is I know as a driver now much more what I want from my team around me, from what I feel like I'm worth, and what I can bring to a team.
"Obviously, going into my first year in Formula 1, it was kind of hard to know exactly what should be my position and how far can I go with my comments and everything. And having worked with Lewis [Hamilton] and George [Russell] for one year now, I kind of know how high the bar is set and how far I can go, and I have no problem sharing my information in the future."