The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team would allow Mick Schumacher to leave his role as reserve driver should an opportunity to further his career within the FIA Formula 1 World Championship presents itself, says Team Principal Toto Wolff.
Schumacher joined Mercedes at the end of 2022 after being released from his seat with the Haas F1 Team, and he will play back-up to Lewis Hamilton and George Russell this year whilst also working behind the scenes to improve the W14 car.
Wolff says Schumacher has already proven himself to be a ‘well-educated, intelligent and talented’ driver within Formula 1, and he likens the German to Nyck de Vries, who has finally found a seat on the grid with Scuderia AlphaTauri after a couple of years acting as a test driver for Mercedes.
“In the same way as we have let Nyck de Vries go in order for him to achieve a career, that could be something that could happen to Mick,” Wolff is quoted as saying by GPFans.com. “Whether it is in our team or letting him go somewhere else, we don’t know.
“The most important factor is his personality. He’s a well-educated, intelligent and talented young man.
“You see through his junior career track record that it was very good and I believe that if we can give him a safe environment to further develop, he can be a good racing driver in a permanent seat in the future.”
Wolff says Schumacher can make a massive contribution to Mercedes in 2023, with his knowledge of driving the current style of Formula 1 car vital. And he feels the team have ‘gained’ a very good talent by bringing in the former Ferrari Driver Academy driver.
“Where he will massively contribute is that he has driven the new car for a year, has been in Formula 1 for two years, knows the tyres, knows the difficulties in the inherent DNA of the current generation of Formula 1 cars and he will be super-helpful in the simulator and in assessing the car overall,” Wolff added.
“It will be good to have him on track, in the debriefing room and he’s a credible young racing driver. From that perspective, we have definitely gained with Mick joining the team.”