The services of Mick Schumacher will be available to McLaren in 2023 as part of the Woking outfit’s arrangement with engine supplier Mercedes.

The former Haas man joined the Silver Arrows in the off season in a reserve driver role after failing to secure a full-time seat for the upcoming season.

As they have done in previous years, McLaren have struck a deal with Mercedes to allow Schumacher to also fulfil the reserve driver role at the Woking-based outfit.

Announcing the move, McLaren welcomed the young German to the family.

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

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Schumacher is not the only driver McLaren will be able to call on with IndyCar star Alex Palou listed as the official reserve driver. Another IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward also featured in an FP1 session for the team in 2022.

It is not the first time McLaren have borrowed some of their power unit supplier’s resources as Nyck de Vries came close to his second ever F1 race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last year.

With Lando Norris struggling with his health, the Dutchman was pictured climbing into the McLaren car whilst wearing one of Norris’ race suits. In the end, the Brit was able to recover so De Vries’ services were not needed.

It appears to have been a week of seat fitting for the 23-year-old German as Mercedes revealed behind-the-scenes images of him sitting in the cockpit for the first time.

With an additional team now part of his contract, Schumacher will be hoping he will see more track time which is his goal as he eyes a return to the grid for 2024.

Team boss Toto Wolff said they would not stand in Schumacher’s way should he get an offer for a race seat elsewhere as they did with former reserve man De Vries.

“I believe that if we can provide him with a safe environment to develop further, he can be a good driver in a full-time seat in the future,” the Mercedes motorsport boss told Dutch publication Formule 1 when asked about Schumacher.

“We had to let Nyck go in the same way for him to have a career, now that could also happen with Mick. Whether it’s with our team or whether we have to let him go, we don’t know yet.”

The article Mick Schumacher given F1 2023 boost as McLaren welcome him to the family appeared first on Planetf1.com.