Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher available to another team in 2023
Mick Schumacher will also work with McLaren as part of his role as a Mercedes reserve driver in 2023.
Schumacher was dropped from his race seat at Haas at the end of the 2022 campaign after two frustrating seasons, with Nico Hulkenberg replacing him.
In December, Mick - son of seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher - joined Mercedes as a reserve driver next season and will work to support Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Yet McLaren - who use Mercedes powered engines - announced on Wednesday that the 23-year-old’s services would also be available to them throughout 2023.
In a tweet alongside a photo of Schumacher completing a seat fit for McLaren, the team said: “McLaren will be able to call on Mick Schumacher as a reserve driver during the 2023 F1 season as part of our arrangement with Mercedes. Welcome to the family, Mick.”
McLaren’s race seats are filled this year by highly-rated British driver Lando Norris and Australian rookie Oscar Piastri.
A further McLaren tweet poignantly read: “Full circle. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella worked closely with Mick’s father, the legendary Michael Schumacher, as his Performance Engineer.”
Italian engineer Stella - who worked with Schumacher Snr directly from 2002-2006 at Ferrari - joined McLaren as team principal in December, replacing new Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl and will work alongside McLaren CEO Zak Brown this season.
Daniel Ricciardo – who was dropped by McLaren last year – has taken a reserve role at Red Bull and Mercedes had reserve opportunities available this year given the departure of Nyck de Vries to AlphaTauri.
Mick’s father Michael - whose medical condition is unclear following a skiing accident in December 2013 - won five of his seven world titles with Ferrari during an illustrious period for the team between 2000 and 2004 but also raced with Mercedes from 2010-2012.
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