Even though he won't be competing in Formula One this year, Schumacher has no intention of altering how he trains for Grand Prix weekends or how he conducts himself.
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While Mick Schumacher will serve as Mercedes’ reserve driver for the duration of this season, the German has already set his sights on returning to competitive driving in 2024. After competing for Haas for two seasons, the 23-year-old switched to Mercedes in December after the American team decided not to extend his contract and chose to replace him with fellow countryman Nico Hulkenberg. Schumacher will now be the third driver at the team his father, Michael, competed for from 2010 to 2013, following Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. However, Schumacher anticipates that his successes in F1 and his junior career will speak for themselves when considering a potential return to the grid in 2024.
“Well, there’s obviously no guarantee [that I return to the grid in 2024], but I’m in a comfortable position where I feel I can learn, [and] I can extract the maximum from this year even though I’m not driving,” the former Haas man said. “But with the results I’ve shown in the junior categories, but also in F1, I’m sure there will be opportunities. Over the winter a few people have already mentioned that there is interest, so in that sense I’m not too worried.”
Even though he won’t be competing in Formula One this year, Schumacher has no intention of altering how he trains for Grand Prix weekends or how he conducts himself all year long, unless he is required to fill in for Hamilton or Russell. “[I’ll] still probably take a very similar approach,” he said. “I will be going into the weekend thinking as if I was going to race, to keep myself sharp. But also, because it is a very different year, I will try and see what I can learn from it, take away from this experience, and be as much of a help to the team as I can be. Partly because I have the experience of driving, but also, I have the mentality that I know how it is to approach a weekend. I will for sure keep the same approach and keep the excitement at a high.”
Mercedes unveiled the W14, which is dressed in an all-black livery, in a special presentation taking place live from Silverstone on Wednesday morning, becoming the penultimate F1 team to begin the 2023 season. Mercedes unveiled the vehicle they hope will put them back in the running for regular race victories and championship glory a day after rival Ferrari unveiled their new rival. After spending 2022 in their more conventional silver scheme, Mercedes’ newest model represents a return to black, a colour they previously ran in 2020 and 2021. For the unveiling on Wednesday, which will be followed by a shakedown at the British Grand Prix venue, team owner Toto Wolff, continuing drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and new reserve Mick Schumacher were all present.
Mercedes enters 2023 hoping to recover from a tumultuous 2022 campaign that began with severe porpoising but ended with a return to winning ways and third place in the constructors’ standings thanks to a lot of effort and adjustments to the W13.
