Alpine’s head Bruno Famin is confident that Mick Schumacher has the potential to excel should he transition from Formula 1 to Le Mans-style racing.
The former Haas driver and current backup for Mercedes had a trial run with the Renault-affiliated team’s new world endurance championship prototype vehicle at Jerez this week.
“It went well,” Famin informed Sport1. “But it wasn’t about pure speed, but about getting to know each other, and for him to get to know this kind of car and the team.”
While no agreement is in place yet, there’s speculation that Schumacher might juggle his time between WEC and his F1 responsibilities with Mercedes the following year.
“At the moment nothing has happened in this regard,” Famin maintained. “The test was simply to get to know each other better and see whether we will continue to talk to each other.
“Now we have to wait for his feedback as to whether he would be happy to do something with us. And then we can look at the exact conditions,” he expanded, likely hinting at Toto Wolff’s readiness to allow the German to retain his F1 position.
Famin also dismissed the notion that Schumacher’s lack of experience in sports cars would be a hindrance.
“I don’t think so,” he stated. “I remember Nico Hulkenberg who won as a rookie in 2015, and Alexander Wurz and others had already achieved that before,” he replied when questioned about Schumacher’s prospects of claiming victory at Le Mans.
“Yes, Mick has been a pure single seater driver so far, but he is a very fast and clever boy. So there’s no reason why he can’t be successful if something happens between us.”
On a related note, Alpine’s WEC chief Philippe Sinault acknowledged that Schumacher’s pal, Esteban Ocon, was instrumental in attracting the German to the squad.
“The two of them are good friends and Esteban said good things about us,” he validated. “When Mick expressed curiosity in endurance racing, Esteban naturally suggested that a collaboration with us might be possible.”
