Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims Mick Schumacher has the potential to claim a future seat but also urged Formula 1 to be patient.
After winning the European F3 title back in 2018, the German had interest from both Ferrari and Mercedes to join their young driver program, eventually choosing the Scuderia in early 2019.
Schumacher then went on to win the F2 championship with Prema at the second attempt last year, with Ferrari promoting him to F1 at Haas for this season.
But while the second-generation driver is currently committed to the path to Ferrari, does that rule out Mercedes one day making a bid to sign Schumacher?
“That’s exactly the pressure I don’t want to put on Mick,” Wolff told RTL.
“If I deliver the headline now ‘One day Mick will be in the Mercedes’, it doesn’t make sense at this point.
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“Mick definitely has the potential to sit in a top car and why not in a Mercedes, but he has to go his way. You have to give him time.
“Only when a driver has the experience, doesn’t make big mistakes anymore, convert the speed, then he can bring in big successes in a top car.”
Returning to the present, Wolff believes Mick is in the right place to start his F1 career at Haas, where expectations are hardly through the roof for 2021.
“I see Mick as a confident young driver, who knows what he can do and who knows that he needs his time,” he said.
“Now it’s about taking the pressure off his shoulders, letting him drive. He is with Haas in a team where he can learn.
“Mick has the talent and intelligence to make his way in a top team and compete for race wins and maybe championships in the future,” the Mercedes boss again suggested.
“But the most important thing is to take the pressure off Mick’s shoulders.
“Of course, he has the great name of the best F1 driver of all time with a strong personality. But Mick is doing very well.”