Schumacher will also be reserve F1 driver for McLaren this year
Feb.2 - Mercedes is not currently planning to give Mick Schumacher outings at the wheel of its Formula 1 car.
This week, the Haas refugee had seat fittings not only at Mercedes' Brackley headquarters, but in the cockpit of a Mercedes-powered McLaren.
"McLaren will be able to call on Mick as a reserve driver during the 2023 F1 season as part of our arrangement with Mercedes," the Woking based team confirmed.
Mick Schumacher doing seat fitting at McLaren
"Welcome to the family, Mick."
However, Auto Motor und Sport believes that despite the 23-year-old's seat fittings, "test laps in the real Silver Arrows are currently not planned".
The German magazine said Mercedes "confirmed" that news.
And as Haas revealed the new predominantly black livery for 2023, which no longer features the Schumacher-linked German sponsor 1+1, boss Gunther Steiner said the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher actually "improved a lot" in 2022.
"I have to say, we were pleasantly surprised by what he brought," said the Haas team boss. "But we decided that it would be better for the team to bring in an experienced driver again."
And with new title sponsor Moneygram, Haas is now pushing up against F1's budget cap limit - with Steiner saying the "long-term" sponsorship means the team's "financial future is completely under control".
"I tell my engineers that now the limit is no longer in the availability of money, but talent - your talent," he is quoted by Italy's Autosprint.
"We want to finish the championship in sixth place," Steiner also told Auto Motor und Sport.
"The budget is no longer an alibi."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Yawn yawn , a poor bit of Pr, like he"ll ever get to drive the Merc, or the Satsuma in anger
As expected & he’ll probably also become available for Williams should a need for substitution arise.
AM already has Vandoorne & Drugovich, so only if neither attends.
same for mcl they already have a reserve driver, as for merc, i cant see either driver given the contract run out dates in place, letting Mick in the car this yr
No, they don't. They haven't had a specifically-nominated reserve driver (not all teams do) for a while, so they've only shared with Mercedes.
McLaren
Reserve driver: Alex Palou
Test and development driver: Will Stevens
Test and development driver: Oliver Turvey
McLaren will employ its own reserve drivers again in 2023. In recent years, the team has relied on engine partner Mercedes for any emergency substitutes. Next season, Alex Palou is the official reserve driver. He is also active in IndyCar.
I stand corrected & admittedly, I'd wholly forgotten Palou.
I mean, I didn't forget him, only his reserve driver role.
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.