Schumacher: At the moment Formula 1 is still within reach

Son of F1 and Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher, Mick did not live up to expectations during a trying and ill-advised two-year stint driving for Haas. The American team led by Guenther Steiner was no place for a young rookie to make his F1 debut.

After 43 GP starts to his name in 2021 and 2022, Schumacher was dismissed by Haas after Ferrari pulled the plug on funding the young German. He instead found refuge as Mercedes reserve in 2023, before he swapped from watching F1 races on monitors over team boss Toto Wolff's shoulder.

Seat time in real race cars became a priority for 25-year-old Schumacher. He was duly signed by Alpine for their 2024 WEC Hypercar programme and shares a car with endurance and sportscar veteran Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxivière.

Together they finished P10 in Sao Paulo, bagging their first point of the season

After the race in Brazil, Schumacher told AFP: "It is important for me to return to Formula 1 to show what I can do. My chances seem to be pretty good so far At the moment, it is still within reach.

"I have to make sure that I don't become too confident, that I keep going and make sure that there is a Plan-B in case it doesn't work out. My plan was always Formula 1, now we have to wait and see what opportunities are presented to me.

"I decided I will wait for Formula 1 as long as necessary," declared Schumacher, clearly reminding all and sundry that he is still available for a return to the top-flight

Alpine gave Mick a test at Le Castellet, after which McLaren had him in their car at Silverstone before he jetted to Brazil to join his Alpine teammates.

After Schumacher's test with the French F1 team, Wolff told Kronen Zeitung: "From what I know from Alpine, it was a super test. He really delivered, I'm happy to hear that. That's the message I got. They are super satisfied, but that was to be expected."

Last year he had no option as no F1 team changed their drivers. But this year there are options for Schumacher with Williams, VCARB, Sauber (aka Audi), Haas and even Mercedes yet to decide on their final driver line-ups. Mick is the reserve driver for the latter.

F1 Silly Season is in full swing, the main player - Carlos Sainz - seemed committed to Williams for 2025 until the expected announcement during the Spanish Grand Prix never happened.

The Spaniard, ousted by Ferrari to make way for Lewis Hamilton's arrival at Maranello, is in high demand with the Flavio Briatore-led Alpine team reportedly making the Sainz Camp an offer they can't refuse. But have not accepted at the time of writing.

Until Sainz confirms his plans, the 'market' will remain in limbo with several drivers including Liam Lawson, Jack Doohan, Kimi Antonelli and the like, who are a rung or two ahead of Schumacher in the 'musical chair dance' to claim a seat on the 2025 F1 grid.