Mick Schumacher's renowned uncle has tempered expectations about the young driver's chances of reviving his Formula 1 career with Audi.
As Nico Hulkenberg secures his place in one of Sauber's Audi-owned seats for 2025 and beyond, the list of potential teammates continues to grow.
Currently, Carlos Sainz, set to involuntarily leave Ferrari, seems to be the leading candidate. Red Bull's team advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has even noted that Audi's lucrative offer to Sainz is something he can't match.
Andreas Seidl, tasked with guiding Sauber into a fully-fledged Audi operation, clarified to Auto Motor und Sport that they are not enticing Sainz with "huge sums of money".
"Our approach is clearly not to motivate drivers or other employees to come to us with huge sums of money," he explained.
"We basically have the financial means of a top team, but we really think about how we can use every franc or euro sensibly and efficiently. We want to attract people who want to be part of this journey and accompany Audi's entry into Formula 1."
At 25, Schumacher, who is currently a reserve driver for Mercedes and heavily involved in Alpine's Le Mans program, would seemingly be an ideal choice for Audi, potentially forming an all-German lineup at a reasonable cost.
"It makes sense to have at least one experienced driver because we have to tackle many challenges at once," Seidl noted. "So it could be two experienced drivers or one with experience and a strong rookie.
"We are continuing to have discussions, monitoring the market, and of course monitoring the performance of Zhou (Guanyu) and Valtteri (Bottas)."
However, Ralf Schumacher, a notable ex-F1 driver and Mick's uncle, remains skeptical about Mick's chances for a spot with Audi-Sauber.
"Any Formula 1 opportunity that presents itself to Mick would of course be important and good," he told Sky Deutschland. "No question about it.
"But that is still a long way off. At the moment he is in very good hands at Alpine in the endurance series, he is doing a great job there, so we'll wait and see."
