Schumacher refusing to give up on 'dream F1' return

Mick Schumacher is refusing to give up on the possibility of a return to F1, despite there only being one seat available for 2025.

2020 F2 champion Schumacher was dropped by Haas at the end of a two-year spell in '22, and replaced by Nico Hulkenberg and has been unable to find his way back into a race seat since. 

He joined Mercedes as a reserve driver to Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, but was overlooked to be Hamilton's replacement for 2025, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli given the nod instead. 

Williams also looked elsewhere when Logan Sargeant was dropped for Franco Colapinto after the Dutch GP, with boss James Vowles claiming Schumacher was "nothing special" - although he later clarified his remarks and apologised to Schumacher.

Schumacher has spent this season racing for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship, with the team keen to keep him on the programme, which is a strong possibility given only the second Stake/Audi seat remains - but as RacingNews365 exclusively wrote over the Singapore GP weekend, Valtteri Bottas is expected to retain the seat, alongside Hulkenberg. 

It would mean, therefore that barring a substitute appearance, Schumacher would not race in F1 until 2026 at the earliest, a four-year gap between races, but he is still clinging to the hope of a grand prix return. 

"Whatever happens for the future, will be decided at some point still this year, hopefully," he was quoted by Autosport after finishing third in the WEC round in Japan.

"As soon as I know what I will be doing, I will for sure put a press release out there and let you all know.

"But definitely the hope is for Formula 1, because that is what I dreamt of since I was a little boy, but it definitely feels great to be in WEC."

Alpine respond

Alpine are keen to keep Schumacher in the #36 machine alongside Mathieu Vaxivere and Nicolas Lapierre, but key figure Bruno Famin - the ex-F1 boss - has acknowledged the F1 chance Schumacher is chasing.

“It's not only what the team can do, it's [about his personal choice]," Famin told Autosport.

“We all know what Mick's number one priority would be if he had the possibility [to return to F1], but we know that there is only one [seat] left to have the opportunity to go back to Formula 1.

“Let's see what we do, what will be the final decision. From our side, we will be happy [if he stays].”