Regular cockpit in Formula 1: Mick Schumacher’s last outing is Audi

Now Mick Schumacher’s only option is Audi. The French Formula 1 team Alpine has confirmed Australian Jack Doohan as its second driver for 2025, thus robbing the young German of another hope of a regular cockpit.

The private connection between Schumacher and Doohan is one thing that makes the personnel issue so charged. The other is that the son of record Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher only has one realistic chance of returning to full-time employment in the premier class of motorsport: Audi, which has taken over Kick Sauber.

Sons of two motorsport legends

“Jack will be the first rider to move up from the Alpine Academy to a racing position in the team, which is particularly pleasing for the team and its youth development,” said the new Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes on the sidelines of the first Grand Prix after the summer break in the Netherlands about the son of MotoGP legend Mick Doohan. The 21-year-old was most recently employed as a reserve driver by the French team. He replaces Esteban Ocon (Haas) and will be Pierre Gasly’s team-mate in the future.

This is a huge setback for Mick Schumacher. After two years as a regular driver at Haas, he had to vacate his cockpit for Nico Hülkenberg at the end of 2022. He then became Mercedes’ reserve driver, and since this season he has also been active in the endurance program at Alpine. The Renault subsidiary was considered a great comeback opportunity for Schumacher.

Before the summer break, the Alpine management team was able to take a closer look at Schumacher and Doohan, whose families are friends, in a joint test. Bruno Famin said both drivers did a good job. But Famin is no longer Alpine team boss and Flavio Briatore has long been the racing team’s chief advisor. Michael Schumacher’s former boss at Renault also advises Jack Doohan.

What’s left for Mick Schumacher? There are still three official cockpits available for 2025. Red Bull subsidiary team Racing Bulls will most likely give the second position alongside Yuki Tsunoda to Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson. At Mercedes, after Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari, the rise of teenager Kimi Antonelli to George Russell’s side is considered likely.

So that leaves Kick Sauber. Audi has taken over the racing team and will start as a works team in 2026. Nico Hülkenberg got the first regular cockpit from 2025. There is speculation about a sensational comeback from Sebastian Vettel. The two current Kick Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are considered serious candidates – as is Mick Schumacher, who saw Doohan’s promotion in Zandvoort.

The new Audi boss knows Mick Schumacher

Audi’s Formula 1 boss, Mattia Binotto, knows the Schumachers. The Swiss-born Italian was once Mick’s father Michael’s engine engineer at Ferrari. When Mick was accepted into the Ferrari junior academy in early 2019, Binotto was the Scuderia’s team boss. At the end of 2022, Schumacher junior left the junior department, shortly before Binotto had to leave the traditional Italian team.

Binotto has only been Audi’s new strong man since the beginning of August. However, he has not yet made any public statements about his driver plans. A second German driver is at most a possibility for the Volkswagen subsidiary, but certainly not a must.

Michael Schumacher gave Jack Doohan his first go-kart

It is somehow strange that Mick Schumacher lost to Jack Doohan. Michael Schumacher and Mick Doohan have been friends for a long time. The Formula 1 record world champion is also Jack Doohan’s idol.

“I was lucky that he was a family friend from a young age. Michael would occasionally visit us in Australia and stay with us. At one point they lived next door to each other in Monaco,” Jack Doohan once said. Michael Schumacher even gave him and his sister Allexis their first go-kart when they were three years old. “He is someone I look up to enormously,” said Doohan, Alpine’s new regular driver.