Mick Schumacher reveals looming Audi deadline amidst ‘Plan B’ uncertainty

Mick Schumacher will know in the coming days whether or not he has a place on the F1 2025 grid, the German revealing Audi will make a decision in September.

Dropped by Haas at the end of the 2022 season, Schumacher has been unable to find a way back onto the grid with the 25-year-old overlooked in favour of younger drivers.

Mick Schumacher’s F1 2025 options are limited to Audi

Next season Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli and Jack Doohan will make their Formula 1 debuts; the latter two securing race seats that Schumacher was briefly linked to at Mercedes and Alpine respectively.

Today his only remaining option is Audi, and he’s one driver on a long shortlist.

It is, however, a long shot with Schumacher’s nationality counting in his favour although the team already has one German on the payroll in Nico Hulkenberg.

It’s also been reported that Audi have already made the decision to extend with Valtteri Bottas for a fourth season, opting for his experience over Formula 2 driver Gabriel Bortoleto’s youth.

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But until that announcement comes, and it could be within the coming days, Schumacher is still hopeful.

“There will be a decision in September. So we have to wait and see what happens,” the former Haas driver told Sky Deutschland. “I will deal with it when the time comes and Plan A does not work.”

But what Plan B is, he cannot say.

He’s spent the last year racing with Alpine in the World Endurance Championship while also staying on the F1 fringes as Mercedes’ reserve driver.

“Plan B must be in the back of my mind,” he admitted. “I don’t know where that will go at the moment.

“Formula 1 is the big goal, it always was and it always will be. That’s why everything else has to stand still for now.

“The options that exist alongside it have to wait.”

One of those options is to continue with Mercedes as their reserve, a role he expects he will fulfil for a third season if he doesn’t get the Audi seat.

“It’s going well there,” he added. “So we’re all confident that I’ll continue doing it.”

According to reports, although Audi will continue with Bottas next season, the team already has a succession plan in place with Bortoleto, who is a McLaren junior, being lined up to replace the Finn in 2026.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella says he won’t hold the Brazilian back if Audi chief Mattia Binotto comes call.

“If Binotto came to me, when you have such a talent, definitely, you’re not going to stop him having a chance in Formula 1,” he said.

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