Mick Schumacher is being “evaluated” for the second seat at Sauber next year and is on Mattia Binotto’s shortlist.

Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, spent two years on the grid in F1 with Haas from 2021-2022 before being dropped following a difficult second campaign.

The German has since played the role of reserve driver at Mercedes behind George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and is a regular presence in the paddock, but has been limited to in-house testing sessions. The 25-year-old has, however, raced this year for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship.

However, as revealed to The Independent earlier this year, he is still focused on landing a second chance in F1 but there is now only one seat unconfirmed for next year, at Sauber.

Yet Binotto, who knows Schumacher well from his time at Ferrari, revealed to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport that Schumacher is on his shortlist to be Nico Hulkenberg’s team-mate next year.

“Definitely, we are evaluating him,” Binotto said.

“I have met and talked to him, I have known him for a long time having been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. I know the merits and advantages of him, he is one of the names we have in mind.”

Valtteri Bottas is believed to be the favourite to retain his seat at Sauber, who officially become Audi in 2026, with McLaren junior driver and F2 championship leader Bortoleto also a serious candidate alongside Williams’ Franco Colapinto.

A factor which could work in Schumacher’s favour, however, is that Sauber’s new chief technical officer, Binotto, worked with Schumacher during the German’s time as a Ferrari junior driver.

Schumacher stated in June that he is “really hungry” to carve a route back into F1 as a first choice over other motorsport series.’

“There’s a lot which hasn’t been seen yet, especially from a driving point of view,” he said.

“It’s never been a secret, my goal is to be back on the grid. I’ve shown in multiple ways that I am capable of winning championships. It’s just a matter of it fitting into somebody’s schedule, does it fit into their plan?

“I understand how I could have improved [at Haas], and there’s a lot more to show from my side. It’s all about, what do you want in your team right now? Do you want somebody who you can build a team around? Good for marketing? Purely shut up and drive? There are so many different types of drivers.

“As for me, I’m really hungry for it. I just need to keep performing in WEC, showing everybody what I can do. Then people will know what they get if they hire me, and hopefully I’ll be able to prove to everybody that they made the wrong decision in not keeping me.”