Decision on Mick Schumacher's F1 debut "within the next couple of weeks"

In the round-up: Mattia Binotto has said Ferrari will make the decision on which of their junior drivers to promote to Formula 1 next year before the end of the Formula 2 season.

What they say

Mick Schumacher is leading the Formula 2 championship and looks most likely of Ferrari’s five junior drivers in the series to be placed on the grid for the 2021 F1 season. As Alfa Romeo has confirmed its two drivers for next year, Haas is expected to sign him, and Binotto indicated a decision will come soon:

I don’t think we will wait for the final race in Bahrain, and for Abu Dhabi then. I think it’s something that we may decide in within the next couple of weeks.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Now I know more than anyone how much sweat you put in. If we ever do that again, i’m using my boot🤣 pic.twitter.com/L975kK27VJ

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 3, 2020

Pretty cool seeing @afelixdacosta get to grips with an @IndyCar so quickly. Huge talent – would be great to see him come race with us over here!

— Gavin Ward 🇨🇦 (@GDubRacer) November 3, 2020

@afelixdacosta is back on track after the lunch break. #IndyCar | @BarberMotorPark pic.twitter.com/iwk6H7p8BG

— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (@RLLracing) November 2, 2020

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Links

More motor racing links of interest:

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Five surprising ways F1 is changing the world (World Economic Forum)

"'After reviewing a video of the Great Ormond Street process, the Ferrari Formula 1 team suggested a new handover protocol with more sophisticated procedures and better coordinated teamwork. As a result, the hospital reported improved patient safety and a reduction in error rates from 30% to 10%."

Formula E joins forces with Extreme E on shared mission to counteract climate change (Formula E)

"'Formula E and Extreme E stand out as sports founded with purpose. As we both race for better futures, a strategic partnership with Extreme E is a natural progression for Formula E. We are joining forces in our fight against climate change, while each continuing on our independent and complementary sporting paths.'"

The ETCR official testing keeps on at Vallelunga (ETCR)

"'We have spent the latest two years in the development of this project that has lately been delayed several months by the COVID-19 pandemic, and so we are understandably proud that we were finally able to run the first two official test days without meeting with major technical issues. We are delighted with the way the optimisation of the control software is progressing and after this promising start we are curious to check also on the performance in the next tests.'"

Renault Sport Academy trio enjoy Renault R.S.18 test in Bahrain (Renault Sport)

"It was good to see Christian (Lundgaard) and Guanyu (Zhou) manage to complete their respective programmes, which was geared more towards preparing them for their remaining Formula 2 rounds in Bahrain later in the month. For both drivers to be able to do more than 100 laps per day, shows a step forward and upwards progression from their last year F1 Test in the RS17. I am impressed with Oscar (Piastri’s) approach for his first day in the F1 car. He managed to get up to speed pretty quickly and complete his run plan."

Russell’s Safety Car crash looked silly, but it’s easier to do than you might think – trust me (F1)

"Crashing out from behind the Safety Car is a cardinal sin in Formula 1, particularly if you are running in the top 10 and have never previously scored a point, but it’s actually far easier to do than anyone watching on could imagine, and that is why we do see it from time to time."

Pierre Gasly's Emilia Romagna GP Debrief (Scuderia AlphaTauri)

Chase Elliott wins, Harvick turns Kyle Busch : Martinsville Speedway Extended Highlights ( NASCAR)

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Comment of the day

In an increasingly silly season, Qeki asks if there could be one last twist to the driver market, with Albon pairing up with Mick Schumacher…

I was thinking about the whole Albon/Red Bull/AlphaTauri situation.

I think Schumacher Jnr is the other racing for Haas next season but what about Albon. If he (and probably will) gets fired from Red Bull why he can’t go to Haas.

He has the Thai money behind him and he is much more experienced in F1 than Mazepin. Of course that could make a huge impact on Red Bull’s financial side but Haas need that money too and it seems like Albon and Red Bull aren’t going to continue their journey.
Qeki

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On this day in F1

30 years ago today Nelson Piquet won a lively, season-closing Australian Grand Prix for Benetton, narrowly holding off Nigel Mansell in his final race for Ferrari

13 comments on “Decision on Mick Schumacher’s F1 debut “within the next couple of weeks””

JohnH (@johnrkh)
4th November 2020, 1:51

Helmet Marko has said Gasly will have a very young team mate next year at AlphaTauri. Could Schumacher be that young driver I wonder.

J_Olivier
4th November 2020, 2:46

No way. Ferrari hasn’t been backing him up and FIA hasn’t done all on their hands to make him champion in junior series to let him go to Red Bull.
What surprises me is that they didn’t put him in Alfa Romeo. Internally they should aknowledge his real level and why it really matters to put him F1 no matters what: money.
1. JohnH (@johnrkh)
  4th November 2020, 5:42
  
  J_Olivier- Woops meant Yuki Tsunoda…very similar names :)
  1. J_Olivier
    4th November 2020, 6:38
    
    That might be correct.
    1. Jere (@jerejj)
      4th November 2020, 7:57
      
      @J_Olivier Alternatively could be Juri Vips, but more likely Tsunoda, yes.
2. Alec Glen (@alec-glen)
  5th November 2020, 13:27
  
  As I think Dieter suggested it could be that Ferrari want to keep Haas sweet as in to keep them from switching to Renault.

Jere (@jerejj)
4th November 2020, 8:01

I’ve already replied to the COTD once, but unlikely to happen.

Adam (@rocketpanda)
4th November 2020, 12:28

I find it weird that Ilott isn’t mentioned as much when it comes to an F1 drive. Tsunoda’s been impressive and Schumacher’s been good despite a very slow start, but Ilott’s been fairly consistently good. In fact I’d say he’s about the only person that could stop a Schumacher title and is more than deserving of an F1 seat.

Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
4th November 2020, 13:23

I think the difficulty with Ilott is that although he’s having the best year of his junior career, this is his sixth season on the F3/F2 ladder, with his best season up to this point being 4th in Euro F3 in his third season, which Lando won as a rookie.
At this point you would expect him to be consistent, as even Jolyon Palmer managed to grab an F2 title with experience.
Of the F2 contenders, Shwartzman has had the more impressive rise, but since he looks like he needs another year, it doesn’t make sense for Ferrari to step over Shwartzman to give a drive to Callum, which they’ll more than likely end up giving to Robert a season later. Better to see if their resident Italian can prove he is worthy of taking Kimi’s seat on merit beside Shwartzman, when he takes the Ferrari junior seat in 2022.