F1 News: Mick Schumacher Scores Seat With Alpine
Mick Schumacher might have paused his F1 return plans for a while due to the current lack of options on the F1 grid. On the other hand, Alpine confirmed that the Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver, who has been one of their favorites, will test in their hypercar that is set to be a part of the World Endurance Championship next season.
Taking the French team's hypercar seat on Tuesday, Schumacher will participate in the test in Jerez, Spain. Endurance director and vice president of Alpine Motorsport Bruno Famin confirmed the possibility of the German driver racing for their endurance program with the A424 hypercar next year. Speaking to the media, he revealed:
"It's true that we are talking with Mick about the possibility of racing in our endurance programme with the A424. It would be a good opportunity for both parties, I think but for the time being, we are just talking and hopefully, we will organise a test soon."
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Interestingly, former F1 driver and mentor figure for Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel was also named by Alpine as one of the drivers for the WEC program. If both drivers make it through, it is unclear who they would replace in the process.
For the 2023 season, Alpine has two cars. The first car features three French drivers Matthieu Vaxiviere, Julien Canal, and Charles Milesi while the other car features André Negrão, Memo Rojas, and Olli Caldwell.
There is a high possibility of Schumacher remaining active as Mercedes' test and reserve driver, despite his supposed full-time future WEC role with Alpine. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has also revealed in the past that he was open to keeping Schumacher as a reserve driver, even if he took an outside project like the WEC with Alpine.
