Sports car driver Dirk Müller has also been officially on Mick Schumacher’s side as a consultant since this year. The sports car pilot, which won the 24 hours at the Nürburgring on a BMW M3 GTR in 2004, wants to bring it back to the premier class.
“Mick definitely has what it takes to return to Formula 1,” he told “Motorsport-Total.com”.
Mick Schumacher currently runs in the LE Mans scene as a factory driver for Alpine. Müller believes that he has what it takes to return to Formula 1: “Mick is a really great guy, especially human. And he has extremely great talent, is a really faster driver.”
Among other things, he refers to Mick Schumacher’s podium together with Jules Gounon and Frederic Makowiecki at the 6 hours of Imola as part of the long-distance world championship.
As a final driver, Schumacher lifted the Hypercar Alpine A424 from sixth to third place with an excellent doubleint and a strategic masterpiece.
The 25-year-old has become significantly more mature compared to his first Formula 1 engagement, Müller, also through his sports car engagement:
“Mick has only driven Monoposto in his career so far. I think it’s good for a racing driver to get to know the other view and grow with your teammates. Mick absorbs everything like a sponge.”
No fabric softener: Schumacher has what it takes to harden
For Müller, the new role as a team player does not mean that Schumacher had lost bite. “He also has the elbows to assert himself in the shaical pool Formula 1,” he emphasizes.
And he contradicts the criticism of Schumacher’s previous Formula 1 cutout: “When you talk about Mick in Formula 1, you should never forget that the first year was extremely difficult. At that time the car was very subperformed, and it was only against the teammate-which he clearly had under control.” The second year was “more meaningful”, especially the second half of the season: “He was extremely strong there.”
But it is not typical for Mick Schumacher anyway: “He always looks ahead, never back. He continues to learn and makes the best of it. In the meantime, he has gained so much expertise that he has now set up differently than a few years ago when he got into Formula 1 as a Formula 2 champion.”
A friend of the Schumacher family
Dirk Müller has been connected to the entire Schumacher family for a long time. The contact came about around the turn of the millennium when Müller drove in the Porsche supercup in Formula 1 supporting program.
“We really got to know each other in the early 2000s when Michael once searched for a football game at home,” says Müller. “So one led to another. Michael helped me a lot during that time.” Now he sees the opportunity to return something.
Due to the close exchange with Michael, contact with Mick automatically came about. “I have always followed Mick’s steep career from karting into Formula 1. We were in an exchange earlier, but that was more in the background. I have a very great interest in supporting Mick,” says Müller, who is still running on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife for Ford.
Müller is well networked in the United States from his long time in American sports car series. With a view to a possible Cadillac engagement of Schumacher for the 2026 season, these contacts could be worth gold.