Mick Schumacher will continue his career in endurance racing

Today Mercedes officially confirmed that Mick Schumacher will say goodbye to the team after the end of the season. At the same time, it cannot be said that they refused to continue cooperation with the 25-year-old German: formally it follows from the text of the press release that he himself made the decision that it was time to return to racing.

Because no one in Formula 1 is eager to employ the son of the seven-time world champion, he will have to continue his career in some other categories.

But in reality, as The Race writes, Mercedes is going to return Valtteri Bottas to the team, and in the future the experienced Finn will take on the responsibilities that Mick fulfilled for two seasons.

It is worth recalling that James Vowles hinted during the Italian Grand Prix that Schumacher Jr. as a driver was “nothing special”. Admittedly, the head of Williams later had to justify himself and explain that the turnover he used was not successful, and that it should only be seen in the context of the achievements of Formula 1 stars like Ayrton Senna or Lewis Hamilton.

He then confirmed that he had apologized to Mick.

However, it cannot be said that Vowles is completely wrong. Schumacher never demonstrated the potential of a future star. If he had truly had brilliant talent, it is unlikely that Kevin Magnussen would have beaten him behind the wheel of the exact same Haas car.

Let’s not forget that the Dane scored 25 points in the 2022 season, while Mick only scored 12. And now Kevin will have to say goodbye to the American team, as he is clearly inferior to Nico Hulkenberg for the second season in a row.

In general, when vacancies appeared in championship teams, it was no coincidence that they went to others: Logan Sargent was replaced at Williams by Franco Colapinto and Jack Duane would make his debut at Alpine in 2025. Despite the fact that Schumacher’s professional qualities are well known in the factory racing program of the Renault group, because in 2024 he competed for Alpine in the WEC.

So Mick’s career in Formula 1 is finally over?

This is what Mark Hughes, a veteran British journalist and expert, thinks about this: “It is better to be careful with categorical formulations because there is always a chance that opportunities will arise, as a vacancy may arise if someone gets injured. gets too many penalties, as happened to Kevin Magnussen, or something else happens.

Still, Schumacher is well known in Formula 1, and I wouldn’t say unequivocally that his career is over. Maybe he really needs to find a place in another racing series now. But he probably no longer has the prospect of a full contract.”

However, many, not just the Schumacher family and his fans, believe that Mick simply never had the chance to really prove himself in Formula 1. Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko once said that Günther Steiner, the former Haas F1 boss, “It was unfair to Schumacher, and that is a fact.”

However, Red Bull did not turn to Mick when they needed a driver for the AlphaTauri team for the 2023 season, but made the unfortunate decision to sign Nyck de Vries.

However, there is one very specific aspect associated with Schumacher that makes him less attractive to many teams: his big name. Mick always gets a lot of attention and there is always too much noise around him.

“The German press tried to put pressure on us to leave Mick and blamed everything on the team. I don’t think it did Mick any good,” Steiner said at the time.

However, no one would take this point into account if Schumacher Jr. would turn out to be exceptionally talented, and not just a ‘normal’ professional racer. If he were given another chance in Formula 1, he would probably do quite well.

However, teams always hope that the drivers ultimately chosen will show truly excellent results. And Mick has nothing to brag about in this regard. Even if someone puts him on the list of applicants for a certain vacancy, he is clearly not first there.

Today’s press release from Mercedes partly explains why Schumacher made a statement via social media in mid-November that began with these words: “Life doesn’t always go as planned, and dealing with setbacks can be difficult. But every challenge is an opportunity to learn something and an opportunity to grow and come back even stronger…”

In the same statement, Mick vowed to “overcome everything and continue the journey.” What this path will be in the near future is already clear: Schumacher has just announced that he will continue to drive for Alpine in endurance racing.

“I am happy to announce that I am staying with the Alpine Endurance program and this adventure will continue. Our first year together has been great and I am determined to help the team achieve even better results in their second season.”

Overall, all that remains is to wish Mick further success – last year he and his crew already managed to reach the podium once. This means there’s a chance there will be more reasons to rejoice in 2025.