Wednesday December 22, 2021
After a good debut season in F1
Schumacher becomes a replacement driver at Ferrari
Mick Schumacher in a Ferrari – like Papa Michael once did. A dream for the 22-year-old and millions of Formula 1 fans. One that Mick will be one step closer to as early as 2022. Because: Schumacher officially rises to the substitute driver at the Scuderia from Maranello, as Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto reveals.
Mick Schumacher has long since secured his place at Haas, but a very special opportunity in Formula 1 could arise for him as early as the 2022 season: to contest a racing weekend for Ferrari. Scuderia team boss Mattia Binotto explained this in an exclusive interview with RTL / ntv: “Mick will be a substitute driver for Ferrari, just like Antonio Giovinazzi. Antonio will be the substitute driver in some races, if he is not there, Mick will be.”
The details are also already fixed, with Schumacher scheduled to replace Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on eleven race weekends. If one of the regular drivers is injured or ill, the 22-year-old may be driving a Formula 1 race in a Ferrari next year.
How fast this can go at the moment was not only shown by the 2020 season, when Nico Hülkenberg stepped in for the then Racing Point team on a total of three weekends for the regular drivers Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll, who had Covid-19. George Russell once sat in the Mercedes for Corona-infected Lewis Hamilton, Williams brought Jack Aitken into the team at short notice. This season Kimi Räikkönen missed two Grands Prix because of a positive Corona test, so substitute driver Robert Kubica drove the Alfa Romeo twice. At the most recent season finale in Abu Dhabi, Nikita Mazepin’s positive test on the morning of race Sunday left one place empty.
Ferrari pledges support
The reason for Schumacher’s mini “promotion” is obvious for the Reds’ team boss. “He’s a Ferrari driver, he belongs to the Ferrari Driver Academy, he did well with Haas, all of the 2022 season,” said Binotto. And: “The cars in 2022 will be significantly different compared to 2021 in terms of driving style. He will of course drive in Formula 1, so he will be used to these new cars. For us even more important: Whenever we need him, he will be prepared be driving a Ferrari. ”
Schumacher was “very happy” with his new role, said Binotto. As a member of the Ferrari youth academy, the team from Maranello supports him all season anyway – even when Mick is doing his regular job at Haas. “He drives for Haas, but we always support him, coach him wherever we can. We have engineers who analyze his data and his driving, because the ultimate goal of the Ferrari Driver Academy is to find the next driver for Ferrari “emphasized the Italian. “It is therefore important for us to always support and help him.”
In the summer, Binotto had rhetorically carefully pushed the door for a Schumacher future in red a crack on the RTL microphone. “Could be,” said the Italian when asked if Mick could be a candidate for the Ferrari cockpit in 2023. The prerequisite is always that Schumacher perform and develop positively. And that is what the 22-year-old did last season, according to Binotto. “At the end of the year he was faster than at the beginning of the season, he was much closer to the other cars in front of him. He is making progress, that was the goal at the beginning of the season. Mick knew what we expected from him. he grows and develops as a driver. ”
Of course, this is not a guarantee. If only because Ferrari currently has two top drivers, Leclerc and Sainz. Leclerc has a contract until 2024, Sainz’s working paper expires at the end of 2022. The Spaniard, however, impressed with strong performances last season and even ended up ahead of his highly regarded stable rival in the drivers’ championship. Binotto announced in the RTL / ntv interview that he wanted to talk to Sainz “in winter” about his “future” – but without being specific.