Mick Schumacher appeared bewildered on Sunday as he was forced to dismiss speculation that his switch to world endurance sportscar racing with Alpine is a done deal for 2024.
Bruno Famin, Alpine’s acting team manager, acknowledged at Suzuka that “we are talking with Mick” regarding a possible arrangement for the 24-year-old Mercedes standby driver to compete in the new Alpine hypercar in the WEC and Le Mans.
“It would be a good opportunity for both parties, but for the time being we are just talking and hopefully we will organise a test soon,” he stated.
Nevertheless, gossip swirled in the Japanese GP paddock on Sunday suggesting an agreement was already in place. Austrian broadcaster ORF questioned the German Schumacher about the report that the Alpine contract “is now official”.
Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, the son of F1 icon Michael Schumacher responded: “Uh – nothing is official.”
The ORF analyst then inquired when Schumacher could confirm the news.
“Well, I’ll share that from my side,” the ex-Haas racer clarified.
“It will probably take a while until then. But of course I have to look at my options and of course there are discussions.”
