Mick Schumacher has reflected on his year on the sidelines at Mercedes in a conversation with the official F1 website. Schumacher shares an important lesson he has learned and still hopes for a full-fledged comeback in 2025.
Watching from the sidelines is not easy, but as a test and reserve driver, Mick Schumacher was closely involved in the development of the Mercedes W14 and the difficult season that Mercedes experienced this year. According to Schumacher, he learned a very important lesson in that role.
“What I think people forget, I was aware of that even though it’s something you don’t think about too much, is that everyone is human, and everyone has the same insecurities,” Schumacher told the official F1 website. “That was the most important lesson for me.”
“Some questions that were not answered when I was driving have now been answered here. That everyone goes through difficult moments, especially when you’re racing and it was great to have that experience.”
“But also, you know why they are so good at Mercedes and why they use their specific approach.”
“It’s great to see how Lewis has been with the team for so long, the connection he has with the team, they can communicate without using words, they just understand each other and I think something like that is really special.”
As a test and reserve driver, Mick Schumacher did particularly valuable work at Mercedes, for which he received praise from Toto Wolff and both Mercedes drivers. However, despite those accolades, Schumacher failed to secure an F1 race seat for the 2024 season.
“It’s great that people are recognizing it,” Schumacher said. “But unfortunately, I’m still here as a reserve driver, not as a main driver.”
“So something must have ‘gone wrong’ and it is sometimes difficult to understand that.”
“Unfortunately there are many multi-year contracts and that does not leave many options for next year. I am therefore in a difficult situation, but there are many more possibilities for 2025, we will see then.”
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