---
title: "Wolff: Schumacher ‘deserves a chance’ amid Mercedes F1 reserve link"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2022/12/09/wolff-schumacher-deserves-a-chance-amid-mercedes-f1-reserve-link/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2022-12-09T13:58:30Z"
modified: "2022-12-09T13:58:32Z"
---

# Wolff: Schumacher ‘deserves a chance’ amid Mercedes F1 reserve link

Toto Wolff believes Mick Schumacher “deserves a chance” in Formula 1 as speculation intensifies that Mercedes will announce him as its reserve driver for next year.

Schumacher is currently a free agent for 2023 after losing his seat at Haas to compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, but is expected to remain in F1 as a third driver.

The German, who is expected to part company with the Ferrari driver academy at the end of the year, has been linked with a reserve role at Mercedes but there has been no official word by the Brackley-based outfit.

Mercedes is eyeing a new reserve driver for next year after the departures of Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, and Schumacher has been tipped to fill the vacancy.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Wolff was pressed on Schumacher’s chances of joining Mercedes, and believed a year on the sidelines could benefit him in the long term.

“I really like Mick. I like the family, how they have raised their kids with this unbelievably famous name and I think he deserves a chance,” Wolff said.

“He won the junior series and that is not easy. Things can go against you in your first years in F1 and then he was under pressure to deliver and that doesn’t help. F1 is brutal.

“Maybe in a way having a year off as a third driver, similar to what Daniel \[Ricciardo\] does, can be good to re-assess yourself and bring yourself in a better place, hopefully finding a better seat again.

“He always impressed me from his personality. The first time I met him, which was in his first year in F3 at Hockenheim, he’s just a good person. He won F3, he won F2 and as I said before, that can’t come out of nowhere.”

Schumacher joining Mercedes for the 2023 season would mark an emotional reunion after his seven-time world champion father, Michael, raced for the team between 2010 and 2012.