2022 ended (for the time being) Mick Schumacher’s time as a regular driver in the motorsport premier class Formula 1. Although the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher will still be acting as a substitute driver for Mercedes and McLaren in 2023, the chance of a permanent cockpit in the grid currently seems to be small – or not?
There are only three question marks hanging over the driver cast for the 2024 Formula 1 season: At Williams, Logan Sargeant’s future has not yet been clarified, the same applies to Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri and Guanyu Zhou’s whereabouts at Alfa Romeo is not yet in dry towels. If you believe “Sky”, then the latter is also the case because an interesting driver would be available in Mick Schumacher.
The assumption: Since Audi, a German manufacturer, will join Sauber from 2026 and Alfa Romeo will become the Audi works team in the course of this, the new force could have a great deal of interest in establishing a driver from home.
Sauber Junior a competitor for Mick Schumacher
Apparently Zhou is also aware that the Audi entry hovers over his future like the sword of Damocles. Most recently, the Chinese emphasized at a media round that he was aiming for a contract for several years, but restricted: “It’s not easy, because when Audi comes and all these things, they need a little more time. But for me it is obviously better to have a longer contract to be a bit more relaxed than just getting a one-year deal.”
Even if you decide against further cooperation with Zhou, the way into the cockpit for Mick Schumacher is not paved for sure. According to “Sky”, among others, the Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire can also hope for the place. The 20-year-old Frenchman is about to win the Formula 2 championship.