Mick Schumacher has piqued the eye of the Alpine F1 team as a potential candidate for any open seat that might pop up for 2025.
Alpine team boss Bruno Famin has praised their World Endurance Championship driver Mick Schumacher in light of the possibility that the team will need to fill a Formula 1 seat for 2025.
The French team made the announcement as they assess potential changes due to ongoing performance issues and imminent driver contract expiration. The team’s current all-French lineup consists of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Ocon secured the team’s only championship point so far this season by finishing tenth in Miami, while rival Haas has seven points.
The F1 driver market is changing rapidly and Haas is now a more appealing alternative than before due to its recent performance, which includes four point scores in seven grands prix in 2024.
Haas will have at least one seat open for the 2025 season following Nico Hulkenberg’s contract with Sauber/Audi. On the other hand, Kevin Magnussen’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and the Dane has endured a challenging start to the season.
Magnussen has only picked up a single point this season compared to Hulkenberg’s six, and he has failed to advance past Q1 in each of the last three regular qualifying sessions, while his teammate has qualified to Q3 on each occasion.
Previously driving for Haas F1 Team, Schumacher joined the Alpine team in the World Endurance Championship this year and has since continued working for Mercedes as a reserve driver since 2023 alongside his commitments to the WEC.
Famin praised Schumacher’s efforts as a part of the World Endurance Championship team, highlighting his character besides his speed. He explained to the media during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, as quoted by Formu1a.uno.
“He’s one of the possibilities for sure,” the Alpine F1 team principal said. “Like many, like many. Mick is doing an incredible job in endurance. What is very impressive is his mindset.
“Of course, he’s fast, but I think everybody knows he’s fast. It’s not always useful to do a very good lap time – because you have the BoP [Balance of Performance] on top. You have to be a bit careful with the performance.
“The matter is not to evaluate the pure performance of the driver, but where Mick has been really incredible is his adaptation to the endurance mindset.
“Mick, from the very first minute, has been very, very cooperative, really helpful for his teammates.
“A super mindset, super team spirit,” he added, confirming that Schumacher is one of many candidates being considered by Alpine for 2025 along with veteran driver Valtteri Bottas who looks set to depart Sauber.
It seems that nationality is the one thing that doesn’t really matter as Famin does not intend on focusing on this for next season, considering the Renault-run squad now has two French drivers and a French base.
Schumacher had previously stated that Formula One will always be the dream in an interview with Formula1.com.
“I mean, it does include a lot of hair pulling and tearing, and I feel like you don’t really see that,” he said. “Obviously, this is the first media table that I’ve done this year [and] that shows a lot and says a lot in that sense, but F1 has always been a dream and it will always remain the dream.
“Again, there is no reason to stay here, not race, fall behind everybody… I would rather go out there, find something to race and develop my skills. In the end, if that leads to no way back into F1 but leads to another career, then I am happy to do that.”
Additionally, Famin believes he can take his time and is not under any pressure to make a decision at the moment. The squad is fully focused on this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix in the meantime.
“Monaco is such a special place on the calendar and is synonymous with F1 and the history of motorsport,” said Ocon who finished in third place in the Principality last year. “I have very fond memories of this place, especially from the podium finish last year.
“Without a race in France, this can be considered a bit of a home race for us, alongside Silverstone.
“What Imola showed is that we must keep improving and working hard to understand the car more − extracting the most from the set-up at the different types of circuit we visit, starting already this week in Monaco.”
Meanwhile, Gasly believed that his performance at Imola had also exposed the weaknesses over their car package, which had deficiencies in speed but believed that there “are just small things to get right and I know we are getting there as a team.”
He promised that the team would put in a lot of effort this weekend to get the car up to speed as soon as possible and build some confidence.
“It’s probably as close as we get to France all season, so while it’s not a home race it does feel special for the team and us drivers in Monaco with so much French support,” he said. “It’s the race I most look forward to on the calendar. It’s high risk with high rewards, as we experienced as a team last year.
“I’m definitely ready to get going on track. It’s a legendary place. World famous and the most iconic place in motorsport. We’ll need a bit of magic on Saturday, and see where we’re at from there. I’m ready for it!”
