Alpine has ruled out the possibility of offering Mick Schumacher an Formula 1 run amid his current deal with the outfit to drive the A424 Hypercar in 2024 WEC.
Alpine team principal Bruno Famin has declined to offer Mick Schumacher a drive in the A524 F1 challenger or any of the team’s grand prix cars off the back of his deal to race with the outfit in 2024 WEC.
Schumacher signed with the Renault owned outfit to race its A424 Hypercar entry in the World Endurance Championship this year in an attempt to return to the premier racing ranks following a season spent as a Mercedes reserve driver.
Although he will continue to serve in the reserve role when he becomes available in 2024, speculation that the German may get some track time in one of the grand prix cars made by the French manufacturer has been sparked by the connection with Alpine.
However, team boss Bruno Famin has refuted these reports claiming that Schumacher’s deal only covers sportscar racing and that backup driver Jack Doohan will drive the team’s F1 car for any additional runs this year.
Asked if there were any plans to give Schumacher a test in current or old cars, Famin said: “No, we cannot.
“We don’t plan because we have a reserve driver with Jack Doohan, and Mick is the Mercedes reserve driver. The contract we have with Mick is exclusively for endurance.”
Mick Schumacher has not raced in F1 since his contract with Haas was terminated at the end of the 2022 season. Despite the fact that Mercedes later took him in as their reserve driver he was never given the opportunity to participate in any race.
Schumacher has made it plain that he still desires to race in F1, and his relationship with Alpine may help him get a seat with the team should current drivers Pierre Gasly or Esteban Ocon leave at the end of the current campaign.
“Mick Schumacher is already an Alpine driver, and for the time being, we’re really happy with Esteban and Pierre,” Famin added. “Nobody knows when the silly season will really start.
“We had quite a strong input weeks ago [with the Lewis Hamilton/Ferrari news] but nothing happened after.
“I think it’s going to be at the next step when the season is going to be really silly. Then we need to be prepared and we are preparing all possibilities. But again, we’re happy with Esteban and Pierre.”
