Schumacher stays in F1: these teams will look at Mercedes reserve

Schumacher name reunited with Mercedes

With Schumacher, Mercedes has filled the empty hole left after the departure of Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne. The two drivers fulfilled a dual role as Formula E driver for the team and F1 team reserve for the past two years. In 2023, however, De Vries will drive for AlphaTauri and the Belgian will join Aston Martin as a reserve.

With two seasons of F1 experience and his surname, Schumacher is obviously an interesting option for Mercedes. Between 2010 and 2012, Michael Schumacher was already driving for the German marque and now his son has also made the switch from Ferrari to Mercedes. The chances of Schumacher getting a permanent seat at Mercedes are extremely slim.

Therefore, Schumacher's goal is likely to remain in the picture of other F1 teams, as did De Vries before. The Dutchman stayed involved in F1, narrowly missing out on a seat at Williams in 2022, but will now get a chance at AlphaTauri in 2023 as he could shine in his role as a reserve.

Schumacher will also hope to get such an opportunity and Toto Wolff has promised that he will actually give the young driver the chance if George Russell or Lewis Hamilton are unable to race.

Audi the dream team?

The dream team for Schumacher is Audi. Right now the team is still called Alfa Romeo, but Sauber will partner Audi from 2026 and Andreas Seidl has already been brought in as CEO to ease that transition. It is no secret that Audi is keen to have a German driver in its team, so it would not be crazy if Guanyu Zhou has to leave the field at the end of 2023.

Zhou did not perform impressively in his first F1 season and the pennies from China may also be less needed with Audi's arrival. Schumacher, through his name, also brings numerous sponsors. Valtteri Bottas is tied up until 2025 and will therefore remain with the team until Audi's arrival.

Another team for Schumacher to set his sights on is Williams. Alexander Albon is fixed until 2024, but Logan Sargeant will still have to prove himself as a rookie. As a Williams junior, the American probably deserves some credit and there is little chance that the Grove-based team will cast him aside immediately after just one mediocre season. After all, Nicholas Latifi was also kept in the team for three years.

The failure at low-flying Haas leaves few other teams for Schumacher. The German may yet be able to hope for a falling out between the new duo at Alpine, freeing up Pierre Gasly or Esteban Ocon' s seat. If so, however, it remains to be seen whether the fourth team on the grid chooses someone who failed at Haas. Aston Martin has also tied up its two drivers for an extended period, leaving only AlphaTauri. Ties with Ferrari have been severed so it is certainly not out of the question that Helmut Marko will consider the German.