What is Schumacher’s best hope for an F1 seat in 2024?

The 23-year-old German has joined Mercedes as their reserve driver for next season after cutting ties with Ferrari and losing his full-time seat at Haas, with Nico Hulkenberg taking his place to partner Kevin Magnussen in the F1 2023 driver line-up. 

Schumacher, the son of legendary seven-time F1 world champion Michael, said he intends to “prove everyone wrong” after a difficult sophomore season that was littered with a spate of costly accidents. 

After being forced to spend 2023 on the sidelines, Schumacher is targeting a comeback in 2024. With Mercedes highly unlikely to offer Schumacher a race seat, where else could he end up? He probably only has two realistic options...

Williams 

Schumacher was linked with Williams before they signed F2 frontrunner Logan Sargeant, with ex-team boss Jost Capito revealing he was on their list of candidates for a 2023 F1 race seat, which ultimately went Sargeant’s way. 

In the purely hypothetical scenario that Sargeant were to struggle to make an impression in his rookie F1 season, Schumacher would provide a capable back-up option. The same would be true if Alex Albon were poached by a rival team and Williams required a replacement. 

Schumacher will gain valuable knowledge about Mercedes’ power unit during his time at Brackley, as well as priceless experience about the inner-workings of a top F1 team, which could benefit Mercedes customer Williams if they found themselves needing a new driver. 

After all, Albon claimed his own experiences in a reserve and test driver role at Red Bull helped make him a better driver prior to sealing his own F1 comeback with the Grove-based outfit. Could Schumacher carve out a similar career revival? 

Schumacher also has a powerful ally in Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who could influence such a move if he believed it would benefit all parties. 

Alfa Romeo/Sauber

Perhaps Schumacher’s best bet for returning to the grid on a full-time basis in 2024 would come at Sauber’s F1 team, which is racing under the Alfa Romeo moniker until the end of 2023.  

German car giant Audi will buy into Sauber and make the team their works F1 entry in 2026, as well as committing to an engine programme as part of the next generation of power unit regulations.

Audi chairman Markus Duesmann has already signalled the company’s desire to field a German driver in the team’s line-up and Schumacher is the obvious candidate to fulfil that ambition now that Sebastian Vettel has retired. 

An early German presence will be felt at the team in 2023 following the arrival of former McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl, who will succeed Ferrari-bound Frederic Vasseur as CEO of the Sauber company. 

The combination of Audi, Seidl, and Schumacher would provide a much-needed boost to the German market and could even help to revive the German Grand Prix. 

With Valtteri Bottas tied down to a multi-year contract, Zhou Guanyu is likely to find himself under increasing pressure to hold onto his seat, despite a respectable rookie season. 

To remain in F1 long term, Zhou will need to make a further step in performance, particularly with the blow of the Chinese Grand Prix being cancelled for a fourth straight year. If he fails to perform, the door could open for Schumacher.