Schumacher says teams showing "interest" in F1 2024 comeback

The German, who was dropped by Haas at the end of last year, has signed as Mercedes' official reserve driver this year.

He believes the opportunity of working alongside Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be a great help for his own personal development as he targets an eventual racing comeback.

While there were no opportunities for him to keep racing in 2023, he suggests the door is already opening up for him for next season.

Asked how he believed his Mercedes role could help him win back an F1 race seat, he said: "Well, I mean there's obviously no guarantee but again, I'm in a comfortable position right now where I feel like I can learn, and I can extract the maximum out of this year even though I'm not driving.

"I'm sure that with the results I've shown in junior categories, but also in F1, I'm sure that there will be opportunities.

"Over the winter a few people have already mentioned that there's interest. So in one sense, I'm not too worried."

Schumacher thinks that working so closely with Mercedes at races will accelerate his personal learning, and ultimately make him a better driver.

Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Mick Schumacher, Mercedes Reserve Driver, Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 Team Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes W14

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

"It's definitely a privilege being part of Mercedes," he said. "But you know, more than that, it's also a place where I always felt at home.

"So it is maybe not in terms of racing the step that I wanted, but I think that definitely, in many ways, it is another way of improving my driving and proving myself as a racing driver.

"I'll hopefully be as much of a help to the team but I'm sure that, with everything that the team has done in the past, but also with all the experience they have, I'll be able to use that for myself. So to grow as a driver."

While Schumacher has said he wants to do as much driving as possible this year, even outside of F1, he says he does not want to burden himself with a full-time commitment to racing.

"At the moment, no. That's not really my plan right now," he explained. "Of course, the idea at the moment is to go to every race in Formula 1, which of course adds up to quite a year.

"On the other hand, I'm planning to do a few kart races here and there, which is probably closer to Formula 1 than anything else."