{"id":22645,"date":"2024-08-07T03:55:30","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T07:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=22645"},"modified":"2024-08-07T03:55:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T07:55:30","slug":"mick-schumacher-clings-onto-final-f1-lifeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/07\/mick-schumacher-clings-onto-final-f1-lifeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Schumacher clings onto final F1 lifeline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After months of uncertainty, next year&#8217;s F1 grid is now falling into place. Only a few teams are without confirmed 2025 line-ups. This is bad news for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/12\/mick-schumacher-chances-of-f1-return-shrink\/\" target=\"_self\">Mick Schumacher<\/a>, who is running out of options to make an F1 comeback. As it stands, there are hardly any lifelines keeping Schumacher&#8217;s dreams of a full-time contract alive.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Limited options for Mick Schumacher<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On paper, Mercedes and VCARB have not announced their 2025 line-ups. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/06\/daniel-ricciardo-vcarb-isnt-a-junior-team-anymore\/\" target=\"_self\">Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> is without a contract for next season, whilst Lewis Hamilton&#8217;s replacement is not officially confirmed either.<\/p>\n<p>However, Schumacher is not in contention for either seat. Regardless of whether Ricciardo is promoted, Red Bull already have a large pool of drivers to choose from.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/01\/kimi-antonelli-has-clear-path-to-mercedes-f1-seat\/\" target=\"_self\">Kimi Antonelli<\/a> is almost certainly going to be announced as George Russell&#8217;s next teammate.<\/p>\n<p>Unless there is a sudden change of heart, Mercedes will give Antonelli an F1 contract for next season.<\/p>\n<p>This leaves midfield teams as potential destinations for Schumacher.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"P4fLZNPqSIJ78GnBdstnwA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2163757827\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'P4fLZNPqSIJ78GnBdstnwA',sig:'TzW58lfptRupANOS4qINP2p8kgD79sdk2dVsylLnHG4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2163757827',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Limited chances at Alpine<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mick Schumacher has been loosely linked with both Alpine and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/01\/valtteri-bottas-is-running-out-of-options-to-stay-in-f1\/\" target=\"_self\">Sauber<\/a> at various points this year.<\/p>\n<p>The 25-year-old completed a test with Alpine a few months ago, giving the French team more data on his abilities.<\/p>\n<p>Schumacher is also competing in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) for Alpine.<\/p>\n<p>Former team principal Bruno Famin mentioned him as a candidate to earn a 2025 contract. However, even putting aside the fact Famin is no longer in charge, these were more throwaway comments than strong commitments.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/31\/jack-doohan-leading-contender-to-join-alpine-in-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">Jack Doohan<\/a> is instead expected to drive alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/02\/pierre-gasly-critical-of-alpine-not-good-enough\/\" target=\"_self\">Pierre Gasly<\/a> at Alpine next season. Confirmation is now seen as a mere formality, likely to be announced before the summer break concludes.<\/p>\n<p>This closes one door for Mick Schumacher.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"5Ea0Ij4yRYdzc0Or-woXPQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2158025239\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'5Ea0Ij4yRYdzc0Or-woXPQ',sig:'oCj3bpMPwwnk4n7mCTZHAvVOrP1OYC9quf5vZoWhPRA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2158025239',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Sauber look elsewhere<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Sauber have arguably the least defined shortlist of drivers under consideration for 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The Swiss outfit initially wanted Esteban Ocon or Carlos Sainz &#8211; but both drivers have signed elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>When considering that Audi are still moulding their ideal line-up for 2026, it is difficult to establish any certanties.<\/p>\n<p>However, Mick Schumacher has not been mentioned as a serious contender for the Hinwil-based team.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/02\/bortoleto-emerges-as-shock-contender-to-join-sauber\/\" target=\"_self\">Gabriel Bortoleto<\/a>, who is currently 2nd in the F2 standings, has emerged as a driver of interest for CTO <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/23\/mattia-binotto-makes-f1-return-with-audi\/\" target=\"_self\">Mattia Binotto<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Although nothing is set in stone, the Brazilian&#8217;s age and improving performance level could make him an extremely attractive prospect.<\/p>\n<p>This leaves Schumacher in a difficult position, with no obvious channels back to F1 available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After months of uncertainty, next year&#8217;s F1 grid is now falling into place. Only a few teams are without confirmed 2025 line-ups. This is bad news for Mick Schumacher, who is running out of options to make an F1 comeback. As it stands, there are hardly any lifelines keeping Schumacher&#8217;s dreams of a full-time contract [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":21920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,1567,68,443,345],"class_list":["post-22645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-alpine","tag-f1","tag-mick-schumacher","tag-sauber"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}