Toto Wolff has confirmed that the doors to a Formula 1 return for Mick Schumacher appear to all be locked shut for now.
Axed Haas driver Schumacher, 24, kept his F1 aspirations alive this year by signing up as the Wolff-managed reserve driver at Mercedes.
But the young German admitted at Monza that there is "not much happening" in the 2024 driver market at present.
"Many drivers are already fixed or have a contract that doesn't expire until the end of next year," he told Sky Deutschland.
Wolff agrees with that assessment.
"It's tough," the Mercedes team boss said at the scene of the Italian GP.
"Somehow, all the doors are closing, which is a shame because Mick deserves to be in Formula 1.
"But maybe the timing is just bad because there are no big changes in the field for 2024."
Indeed, the latest silly season rumblings suggest that Alpha Tauri will keep Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou will be retained by Alfa Romeo, and Williams' US-based owners at Dorilton Capital want American Logan Sargeant to be given another chance next year.
