Last chance for Mick Schumacher emerges with ‘unmotivated’ F1 2024 driver name drop

Mick Schumacher has been on the outside looking in since leaving Haas at the end of 2022

Audi is the final option remaining for Mick Schumacher, a driver which the team should consider as a replacement for the “unmotivated” Valtteri Bottas.

That is the opinion of former Formula 1 driver turned pundit Marc Surer, who would like to see Schumacher get another chance in Formula 1, arguing that he did not display his full talents previously with Haas.

Could Mick Schumacher return to Formula 1 with Audi?

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Off the back of winning the Formula 2 title, Schumacher received the call-up to F1 with Haas, but after two seasons with the team in 2021 and 2022, he was dropped in favour of Nico Hulkenberg, who is the first driver signed for the Audi era which will kick in from F1 2026, as they prepare to take over Sauber.

It has been a challenging F1 2024 campaign for Sauber, the only team yet to score a point and the team which saw both drivers – Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu – finish two laps down at the Dutch Grand Prix.

With Hulkenberg filling one seat from next season, Bottas and Zhou are battling for the final place, though the prospect of an all-new F1 2025 line-up remains. And having seen openings close at Alpine and more recently Williams – Logan Sargeant replaced by Franco Colapinto after his mid-season axe – could Audi be Schumacher’s ticket back onto the F1 grid?

Surer would like to see the German racer considered, arguing that 10-time race winner Bottas is “unmotivated” driving at the back of the grid

“The chances are getting smaller and smaller. Only Audi really remains,” said Surer of a Schumacher F1 return when speaking to Formel1.de.

“Before they give Bottas a chance, who is driving around unmotivated at the back, they could also give Mick a chance.

“I judged Mick pretty harshly as a Formula 1 driver. But also because I don’t think he has utilised his talent. Because I believe in his talent! The guy is fast, he proved that in Formula 2. He was also great at overtaking. So, there’s something in it.

“He wasn’t able to show that in Formula 1, for whatever reason. Especially with [Kevin] Magnussen [as his team-mate], he just looked a bit bad and I don’t think he was able to show his potential. I wish him another chance.”

With Audi’s F1 2026 arrival dominating the headlines when it comes to Sauber, Bottas admitted that this future era for the team has led to “compromises”.

Audi recently announced major changes to its F1 project personnel, with former chief Andreas Seidl and chairman Oliver Hoffmann departing, while ex-Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto arrived to run Audi F1 alongside Jonathan Wheatley who will join from Red Bull, the team’s long-serving sporting director.

When asked by media including PlanetF1.com if there is too much focus on Audi, Bottas replied: “I mean, for sure, the focus is here and now, but also in the future.

“So it’s always about compromises and we’ve had recent changes, again, in the team, so things will just take a bit of time to settle.”