Mercedes willing to 'let Schumacher go' as De Vries parallels seen

Sam Hall
Thursday 19 January 2023 07:45

Toto Wolff has indicated Mercedes would be willing to let Mick Schumacher go should an appropriate opportunity arise.

Mercedes is no stranger to releasing its reserve drivers to compete with other teams after sharing Nyck de Vries with Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams last year as part of a shared substitute pool.

The Dutchman was then allowed to secure a race seat with AlphaTauri for the upcoming season.

Mercedes signed Schumacher as his replacement after Haas elected not to continue with the German for a third year.

But far from this being the end of the road for Schumacher in a full-time capacity, Wolff has confirmed he would not block the 23-year-old's path should opportunities appear elsewhere.

Signed. ✍️ @SchumacherMick meets the Boss. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/7kuQXlJdMS

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 15, 2022

“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," said Wolff.

"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."

Mercedes leaning on Schumacher experience

After a difficult first season racing at the back of the field with Haas, Schumacher made the most of a stronger car last term to establish himself firmly within the midfield.

Given the new regulations that were introduced last year, there are a limited number of reserve or third drivers with significant real-world experience of the current generation of cars.

Asked how Schumacher will benefit Mercedes' progress, Wolff added: “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.

“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.”