Mick Schumacher available to McLaren in 2023

Two stables for the price of one Mick Schumacher. The one who was dismissed by the Americans from Haas at the end of the 2022 season had already bounced back as a reserve driver for the Silver Arrows. The young German (23 years old) adds the papaya cap of McLaren to his list. As part of an agreement between Mercedes and the team of Zak Brown, the son of the seven-time world champion Formula 1 Michael Schumacher may be required to take the wheel of the car orange in case of absence Lando Norris orOscar piastri.

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/1620818057387196416

« McLaren will be able to count on Mick Schumacher as reserve driver during the 2023 Formula 1 season following an arrangement with Mercedes. Welcome to the family, Mick! », We can read on the team's Twitter account. McLaren which is delighted to welcome a Schumacher, what an era!

Perhaps the German will replace Oscar Piastri during one of the 23 meetings of the season in the premier category... A situation that the Australian could also have experienced last year.

Indeed, while the young Australian was a reserve pilot Alpine for a season of transition between F2 and F1, he was made available to McLaren by the French team, notably at the start of the season after the screening of Ricciardo to Covid just before the Bahrain GP. Piastri ultimately did not have the opportunity to take the wheel, but he was promoted to starter in place of Ricciardo during the off-season following a long legal-sporting imbroglio.

Schumacher thus joins Álex Palou in the Woking team’s reserve crew. The Catalan driver also juggles his obligations in IndyCar, a category in which he is entering for a fourth season. The 2021 IndyCar champion will also have a brand new eponymous structure to manage in the recently launched Eurocup-3 series: Palou Motorsport. 

Schumacher, for his part, made a detour to Brackley (UK) to have his custom Mercedes seat molded there. If Norris, Piastri, George Russell or Lewis Hamilton cannot secure a round of the longest championship in the history of Formula 1, we will have to count on the German to get back behind the wheel and fight on the track.

His best result in the premier class was a 6th place at the Austrian Grand Prix last year. Perhaps he will have the opportunity to improve this result with a single-seater benefiting from the Mercedes power unit. 

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