Mick Schumacher will be added to McLaren’s roster of reserve drivers for the 2023 season as a result of a deal McLaren and Mercedes have reached. After two seasons at Haas, where he scored 12 points in 43 starts, Schumacher joined Mercedes as a reserve driver in December of last year. The American team decided not to renew his contract for the 2023 season and replaced him with Nico Hulkenberg, a fellow countryman.
This means that Schumacher will join IndyCar champion Alex Palou on McLaren’s list of reserve drivers for the 2023 season. The German will be able to step in if one of Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, the new driver for the papaya team, can’t go to a race weekend.
Mercedes shared images earlier this week of the 23-year-old former Formula 2 champion sitting next to the eight-time constructors’ champions in case he had to replace Lewis Hamilton or George Russell and take on any testing responsibilities.
Now, McLaren has also shared a picture of Schumacher getting used to their cockpit and having the seat molded around him in Woking so that the German can step in if needed.
This indicates that Schumacher will be present for the team led by Andrea Stella, the new Team Principal. Stella worked as Michael Schumacher’s Performance Engineer at Ferrari from 2002 to 2006, when they won three drivers’ titles together.
After winning the FIA Formula 2 championship in 2021, Schumacher spent two seasons at the struggling Haas team before being promoted to Formula One.
Since then, Haas has switched its strategy from relying on young drivers with good backing to racers with experience. This season, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will be back together after three years.
Schumacher will have the opportunity to collaborate with Andrea Stella, the new team principal at McLaren and the performance engineer at Ferrari where his father Michael Schumacher worked.