Cadillac urged to avoid Mick Schumacher

1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has urged Cadillac not to sign Mick Schumacher, insisting there is "no reason" to pick the German driver. 

Schumacher is one of a number of drivers reportedly being considered by F1's newest team, who will officially enter the sport from next year when the new power unit regulations are introduced.

For its first two seasons, Cadillac will be a Ferrari customer outfit, before becoming a factory team and produce its own power unit.

For much of the year, the American squad has insisted it wants an experienced driver pairing; however, several unexperienced drivers are being considered. 

Schumacher is one of those, with the son of Michael Schumacher having not raced in F1 since 2022. 

The 26-year-old competed for Haas in 2021 and 2022, a period in which he only scored points on two occasions. 

Mistakes were made on a regular basis, costing Haas significant money due to the size of some of his crashes. Nico Hulkenberg, ultimately, replaced him for 2023. 

Since then, he spent a year as Mercedes' reserve driver, but has raced for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship. In Villeneuve's eyes, Schumacher should be avoided.

"Mick Schumacher had a hard time when he was at Haas. He’s not an experienced driver either. There’s no reason to go for him," Villeneuve told Vision4Sport.

Whilst Villeneuve views Schumacher as the wrong option, he believes Cadillac should sign current Mercedes reserve Valtteri Bottas. 

The 10-time F1 race winner is eager to return to the grid, with Villeneuve believing his experience with Mercedes could be pivotal to Cadillac.

"Bottas has a lot of experience and he’s shown that he can win races," Villeneuve said.

"And he’s been with an amazing team in Mercedes. So that’s good attributes to have. It’s hard to judge his Sauber years. I don’t think there was any hunger there."