McLaren can utilize Mick Schumacher as one of its reserve drivers as part of its technical partnership with Mercedes, the team has confirmed.

Schumacher has joined Mercedes in a reserve driver role after being dropped by Haas at the end of last season, and is currently the only confirmed back-up on the team’s books. Previously it had two options in Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, but de Vries has since been given a race seat at AlphaTauri while Vandoorne joined the Aston Martin set-up as a reserve.

McLaren also had an agreement with Alpine to use Oscar Piastri before the latter became a target for a race seat and was signed to partner Lando Norris in 2023. That left McLaren with only Alex Palou as a reserve when his IndyCar commitments allow, but it has now confirmed that Schumacher can be used, and the German has visited the McLaren Technology Center for a seat fitting.

“McLaren will be able to call on (Schumacher) as a reserve driver during the 2023 F1 season as part of our arrangement with Mercedes,” the team announced. “Welcome to the family, Mick.

“Full circle – McLaren team principal Andrea Stella worked closely with Mick’s father, the legendary Michael Schumacher, as his performance engineer (at Ferrari).”