Toto Wolff highlights key Mick Schumacher attribute as Williams rumours continue

Henry Valantine 28 Aug 2023 7:00 PM

Toto Wolff laughing with Mick Schumacher in the Mercedes garage. Australia April 2023

Toto Wolff has pointed to the work ethic of Mick Schumacher as one of the reasons for him to get back on the Formula 1 grid next year.

The Mercedes team boss believes his reserve driver deserves another chance to be on the grid next season, having been overlooked at Haas in favour of Nico Hulkenberg for this year.

He took on reserve duties with Mercedes as a result, but Wolff has highlighted where the German has helped influence the team away from the circuit this year.

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Paddock rumours linking Schumacher with a move to Williams persist, with Logan Sargeant under pressure to perform alongside Alex Albon and team principal James Vowles having heavy Mercedes links after departing the team last year, alongside Williams being engine customers of the Silver Arrows.

When asked outright if Williams was an option for his reserve driver next year, Wolff neatly sidestepped a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but instead offered reasons why he feels he deserves another chance.

Not least among which the work he does in Mercedes’ simulator to help Lewis Hamilton and George Russell over the course of race weekends, with multiple instances of him having worked into the early hours of the morning on different setups to try and help the team forward.

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“I think he deserves to be on the grid,” Wolff told media including PlanetF1.com at Zandvoort.

“The moment you’re not feeling confident in a car over a prolonged period, the more pressure you put on yourself [to] perform – and this has happened at Haas. If you win F3 and F2, there is high potential.

“我很高兴我们有第三个司机,我知道will do the job if one of ours eats a bad fish, but the contribution in the in the simulator is tremendous – and that makes us sometimes do these big jumps from Friday to Saturday because he’s driving socks off overnight.”