Mick Schumacher announced as 2022 Ferrari reserve driver

F1
Mick Schumacher (Ferrari) at the 2019 German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. Photo: Grand Prix Photo

Already an FDA member, Schumacher will now be the Scuderia's F1 reserve for 2022

Grand Prix Photo

Author

James Elson

Mick Schumacher will be Ferrari’s reserve driver next year, sharing the role with recent F1 exile Antonio Giovinazzi.

The Ferrari Driver Academy member, who has completed his first year racing in F1 with Haas, will perform reserve duties for 11 races – in addition to contiuning on with his Haas race seat – whilst Giovinazzi will be on call for the rest when not competing for Dragon in Formula E.

Should Schumacher get the call-up, Haas has its longtime reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi to fall back on, with Ferrari making Giovinazzi available to the American squad and Alfa Romeo should either need him.

The Scuderia has also announced that another FDA member, Russian F2 driver Robert Schwartzman, will be its test driver for 2022.

Schumacher, the son of F1 legend Michael, has shown marked improvement throughout the year, with Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto saying this was something appreciated in choosing the young German for the role.

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“The reason we have the Ferrari Driver Academy is to identify the next Ferrari driver for the future,” he said.

“Being part of it, if you are doing well, no doubt you may have opportunities. He’s had already one season in F1, which is important. Mick through the season did well, he improved himself not only in terms of consistency, but as well in terms of speed.

“If you look at the last races, he was a lot closer to the cars ahead, and Haas didn’t develop the car at all. The fact he was closer proved he had a good improvement on the speed itself.

“He will be driving 2022 cars next year, they will be a lot different to the current one in terms of driving style. It will be important to have one driver who knows those cars being reserve.”

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