The 23-year-old German has joined Mercedes as their reserve driver for subsequent season after chopping ties with Ferrari and dropping his full-time seat at Haas, with Nico Hulkenberg taking his place to associate Kevin Magnussen within the F1 2023 driver line-up.
Schumacher, the son of legendary seven-time F1 world champion Michael, mentioned he intends to “show everybody incorrect” after a tough sophomore season that was plagued by a spate of expensive accidents.
After being pressured to spend 2023 on the sidelines, Schumacher is focusing on a comeback in 2024. With Mercedes extremely unlikely to supply Schumacher a race seat, the place else may he find yourself? He most likely solely has two sensible choices…
Williams
Schumacher was linked with Williams earlier than they signed F2 frontrunner Logan Sargeant, with ex-team boss Jost Capito revealing he was on their record of candidates for a 2023 F1 race seat, which finally went Sargeant’s approach.
Within the purely hypothetical situation that Sargeant have been to battle to make an impression in his rookie F1 season, Schumacher would supply a succesful back-up choice. The identical can be true if Alex Albon have been poached by a rival crew and Williams required a alternative.
Schumacher will achieve beneficial data about Mercedes’ energy unit throughout his time at Brackley, in addition to priceless expertise concerning the inner-workings of a prime F1 crew, which may gain advantage Mercedes buyer Williams in the event that they discovered themselves needing a brand new driver.
In any case, Albon claimed his personal experiences in a reserve and take a look at driver position at Pink Bull helped make him a greater driver previous to sealing his personal F1 comeback with the Grove-based outfit. Might Schumacher carve out an identical profession revival?
Schumacher additionally has a strong ally in Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who may affect such a transfer if he believed it will profit all events.
Alfa Romeo/Sauber
Maybe Schumacher’s greatest guess for returning to the grid on a full-time foundation in 2024 would come at Sauber’s F1 crew, which is racing underneath the Alfa Romeo moniker till the top of 2023.
German automotive big Audi will purchase into Sauber and make the crew their works F1 entry in 2026, in addition to committing to an engine programme as a part of the following era of energy unit laws.
Audi chairman Markus Duesmann has already signalled the corporate’s need to discipline a German driver within the crew’s line-up and Schumacher is the apparent candidate to fulfil that ambition now that Sebastian Vettel has retired.
An early German presence can be felt on the crew in 2023 following the arrival of former McLaren crew boss Andreas Seidl, who will succeed Ferrari-bound Frederic Vasseur as CEO of the Sauber firm.
The mix of Audi, Seidl, and Schumacher would supply a much-needed increase to the German market and will even assist to revive the German Grand Prix.
With Valtteri Bottas tied right down to a multi-year contract, Zhou Guanyu is more likely to discover himself underneath growing strain to carry onto his seat, regardless of a decent rookie season.
To stay in F1 long run, Zhou might want to make an additional step in efficiency, notably with the blow of the Chinese language Grand Prix being cancelled for a fourth straight 12 months. If he fails to carry out, the door may open for Schumacher.