Mick Schumacher Is Mercedes F1's New Reserve Driver
Mick Schumacher, the 2020 Formula 2 champion and son of 7-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, has joined his father's final F1 team as its third driver. While he is not scheduled to race anything for Mercedes in 2023, Schumacher will be the team's only reserve driver. He will attend every race, and if either of the team's full-time drivers are ever unable to drive, he'll be called in to race. Additionally, he will participate in the team's simulator testing to aid the development of the 2023 car.
Schumacher was dropped by Haas F1 earlier this year after two seasons. He scored 12 points, all in two races this season after failing to finish better than 12th in his rookie year. The team considered keeping him on for 2023, but instead chose to hire veteran Nico Hulkenberg to pair with Kevin Magnussen.
The end of Schumacher's time with Haas also coincided with the end of his time in the Ferrari driver academy, the junior program he participated in throughout his time in lower-level formulas. Ferrari helped place him at Haas with the hope that he could grow into a future star for their lead team, but they decided to move on earlier in the year. That freed up Schumacher to instead become affiliated with Mercedes. His father notably drove for both teams, collecting five of his seven career championships in a Ferrari before briefly returning to F1 with Mercedes from 2010 to 2012.
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