Binotto: Too soon to decide Schumacher’s F1 future

Finley Crebolder
Mick Schumacher Ferrari flag pa

Mick Schumacher Ferrari flag pa

Mattia Binotto feels that Mick Schumacher’s F2 performances are “a lot better” than last year, but says it’s too early to decide his future.

After an often disappointing first season on the Formula 2 grid, in which he finished P12, the young German seems to have found his feet in 2020.

He’s currently sat in P4 in the standings, having taking two podiums at the last race weekend in Hungary.

Binotto, the Ferrari team principal, has been keeping an eye on Schumacher’s progress and is pleased with what he has seen.

“I think that Mick is certainly doing well, and he is doing a lot better than last year,” he told Autosport.com.

“It was important for him in his second year of F2 and he is showing progress. I think that he is showing progress as well since the start of the season.

“He had some bad luck situations but if you look at his results in Hungary, he did well. So Mick is progressing which is important.”

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Given his talent and his status as the son of the Italian team’s most successful driver, Schumacher has long been linked with an F1 seat at Ferrari in the future.

If he is to drive for the team, the most likely route will be via Alfa Romeo. One seat there is reserved for a Ferrari academy driver, and Antonio Giovinazzi hasn’t hugely impressed in it as Charles Leclerc did before him.

Schumacher will have enough super license points to fill the seat if he finishes in the top six of this F2 season. However, Binotto feels it is still too early to make any decisions.

“Next year I think it is really too early to decide. We are really clear and fair with him: his overall performance in the championship will be important,” he added.

“So he will be in an F1 seat at the time that we believe he has done sufficient progress overall. He needs simply to continue as he is doing now, and we will decide later on in the season.”

The German faces competition for the seat from fellow F2 driver and team-mate Robert Schwartzman. The Russian has enjoyed an even better start to the season, leading the Driver’s Championship with two wins to his name. If it was up to Helmut Marko, he’d get the nod.

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