Mick Schumacher would like to be active again today as a regular driver in Formula 1. But the road to get there is long and rocky. At the moment there are hardly any chances or opportunities for the German to prove himself. That could be Schumacher’s undoing, believes the new AlphaTauri boss Peter Bayer.
After two years as a regular driver at Haas, Mick Schumacher has to watch from outside what is happening on the track in the current Formula 1 season. As a substitute and, above all, simulator driver at Mercedes, the German has found a new home that is close to his favorite sport, but the 24-year-old would much rather be behind the wheel himself more often.
At the moment it does not look as if a door could open for Schumacher in 2024 with a strong team, rumor has it that there is only a small probability at Williams, where Logan Sargeant has not been completely convincing so far. But: In order to put himself in the shop window of other racing teams and thus increase his chances, Schumacher would need a lot more time on the “right” track. At least that’s what the new boss of the AlphaTauri team, Peter Bayer, believes.
“I think that’s where the challenge for Mick lies: How can he prove that he has the speed?” Bayer told “Motorsport-magazin.com”.
The AlphaTauri boss was alluding to Daniel Ricciardo, who – like Schumacher – was still a reserve driver until recently, but with Red Bull he still has the necessary speed for Formula 1.
“If Daniel hadn’t set the times in the test at Silverstone, he wouldn’t have been in the car,” revealed Bayer, adding in a meaningful way with a view to Schumacher: “If Toto (Wolff, team boss from Mercedes/d.Red.) If you don’t put Mick in the car at some point, like we put Daniel in the car, then it will be difficult,” predicted the person responsible for AlphaTauri, in whose team Ricciardo recently took the place of Nyck de Vries.
It is not known whether the Austrian, in his judgment of Schumacher, forgot that he was allowed to do more than 150 laps in the current Mercedes car at the Pirelli test in Barcelona at the beginning of June. However, little has been published about Schumacher’s results in the W14, and the 24-year-old German was not really able to present himself. This was also because the test was not primarily there to give Schumacher a chance to present himself, but rather to find out how the Pirelli tires behave when they are used without electric blankets.
Schumacher explained at the time, rather cautiously, that “this experience would definitely help him in my task”. “I now understand much better what to look for in the simulator and what we need to work on.” There was little sign of an exclamation mark in the direction of a new regular place.