Schumacher obsession remains F1 despite 'valid' WEC option

Mick Schumacher has revealed that the World Endurance Championship (WEC) is a "very valid second option" for those who either fail to reach F1 or leave the series. 

However, for Schumacher, his personal focus remains on a return to the pinnacle of motorsport. 

Schumacher has spent this season racing for Alpine in the WEC hypercar class, alongside his Mercedes F1 reserve role he has held since departing Haas at the end of the 2022 season. 

The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher remains determined to return to the F1 grid, despite finding himself a factory WEC seat. 

He does think WEC is a good destination, but is second to F1.

"I mean, I do hear a lot of people are interested in WEC, a lot of the drivers who don't get a shot at Formula 1 or are on the way out of F1," Schumacher told Divebomb. 

"I think that WEC has become a very valid second option next to F1, I have enjoyed my time here, but for me there is nothing better than F1, so my constant thoughts are about F1 and that's what I really want to do.

"Obviously when I'm here at a race weekend, I'm here to work in WEC and that's obviously what I focus on, but definitely my ultimate goal is to be back in an F1 car."

Schumacher adaptation continues

Despite having now competed in WEC for half-a-year, the Mercedes driver is still adjusting to jumping between a single-seater and a hypercar. 

Schumacher has conducted F1 tests for Mercedes, McLaren and Alpine this year, meaning he remains a regular figure in a single-seater cockpit. 

"I'm still trying to get used to it, to be honest," conceded the German driver. "It's obviously not quite easy to always do that, but overall I felt like I've kind of been able to manage the switch between the two. 

"Basically, the two cars are so different in some ways, that actually it makes it easier to shift from one side to another, and I am doing quite a lot of testing still with F1.

He continued: "I recently just sat in the McLaren and also obviously in the Alpine at Paul Ricard, so I feel like I have been able to really handle it quite well, going from one series to another.

"But it is definitely challenging when I'm here to kind of work with the weight that we have, and obviously the [Alpine Hypercar] project is quite young still which makes some of the tools a bit analogue if that makes sense?"