After a year on the sidelines in F1, Mick Schumacher will be driving for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024. However, the German prodigy was not completely out of action in 2023, owing to his reserve driver duties at Mercedes. He now hopes to use the lessons learned during his stint at the Silver Arrows as an Alpine WEC driver.
According to GP Blog, Schumacher stated, “Maybe on the driving side, as I haven’t been driving, it’s kind of difficult to work on it. But in general, still taking all that information that I’ve been given from Mercedes, but also just by observing. Yes, I definitely feel like I’ve taken a step forward.”
Schumacher was eager to return to the F1 paddock with a full-time drive following his disappointing spell at Haas. However, there was no seat available for the 2024 season. The Williams’ seat of Logan Sargeant was the only hope for the German driver until the American extended his deal.
But, barring that, there was little hope of securing a seat elsewhere. Therefore, Schumacher decided to move to the WEC even before Williams confirmed that Sargeant had extended his contract. Schumacher too admitted that since it seemed unlikely that he will get an F1 seat, he decided to sign with Alpine in WEC when he received the opportunity.
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He said, “I was already at that point that I wanted to commit to this if I didn’t get any chance in Formula 1. Just because as I said, you have so many manufacturers jumping into that right now.” The 2020 F2 champion, who was once tipped to take F1 by storm, seems to have had a fall from grace in the past couple of seasons.
Mick Schumacher – Wrong place at the wrong time?
Mick Schumacher probably was at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was at Haas. As a rookie, the 24-year-old started decently for the team in 2021. But in 2022, his crash-prone driving started proving costly because of the budget crunch at the American outfit.
This resulted in a rather ugly exit for the seven-time champion’s son. The 24-year-old even exited from the Ferrari Driver Academy, thus leaving him without any association for looking up an F1 seat. The German then joined Mercedes as a test and reserve driver, courtesy of Toto Wolff’s generosity.
However, despite efforts from the Mercedes boss, Schumacher could not secure a seat for an F1 return. Wolff reportedly attempted to convince Williams‘ boss James Vowles to sign him. Moreover, Schumacher even did a simulator test to improve his chances of getting that seat at the Grove outfit.
However, Vowles reportedly did not even consider Schumacher as the best alternative for Logan Sargeant. Instead, he had his eyes on 2021 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich.
Meanwhile, even current F2 drivers like Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire were in contention. However, with Williams now confirming Sargeant as their driver in 2024, the F1 grid remains unchanged for the first time in history.
