“The Ferrari Driver Academy was created to raise the next driver for Ferrari” – Mattia Binotto reveals when Mick Schumacher can move to Ferrari

“The Ferrari Driver Academy was created to raise the next driver for Ferrari” – Mattia Binotto has suggested the year in which Mick Schumacher could make his debut for Ferrari.

Mick Schumacher will make his Formula 1 debut with the Haas F1 team next season. The FDA driver, famously the son of Michael Schumacher is a former F3 and current F2 champion. Interestingly, he spent two years on both levels, finishing P12 in the first before winning the championship in the second. And Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto believes it will be much the same in Mick’s first season in F1.

“I think it will be very difficult for him at the start.”

“If I look at his past experience in both F2 and F3, normally he is delivering his best in the second season and not the first. I think Mick, the way he has developed himself, is learning a lot in the first season and becomes very strong in the second half of the second season. That’s why I think two seasons will be important for him.”

“I’m really expecting him to prove how fast he is in an F1 context, both qualifying, and the race…to prove that he is very strong in race pace and consistent in terms of bringing the car home in a good position.”

Mick Schumacher to Ferrari in 2023?

When asked if Mick Schumacher to Ferrari is a real possibility this decade, Binotto clarified the significance of the FDA. But with Charles Leclerc on a long-term contract and Carlos Sainz signed until 2022, Mick has two seasons to prove he has in him to follow in his Dad’s footsteps and make the dream move to Ferrari.

“The Ferrari Driver Academy was not created to raise Formula 1 drivers, but the next driver for Ferrari. Today it is too early to decide but there are the premises to see Mick in red in 2023.”

Also read: “Of course I use some of my father’s tips”- Mick Schumacher on his father mentoring him