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Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto has defended his decision to overlook Mick Schumacher for an F1 2025 seat after Mercedes and Toto Wolff did the same by promoting Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
After months of speculation, Audi F1 – who will take over the existing Sauber team in 2026 – confirmed on Wednesday that Schumacher will not feature in their plans for F1 2025.
Mattia Binotto says Mick Schumacher was an Audi F1 candidate, but…
The Swiss-based team completed their driver line-up by announcing that F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto will partner Nico Hulkenberg in an all-new pairing, with both men signed to multi-year contracts.
That has brought an end to Schumacher’s dreams of returning to the Formula 1 grid for F1 2025, potentially for good.
Just a month ago it was speculated that it was a straight fight between former Haas driver Schumacher, who Binotto knows well from his Ferrari junior days, and Valtteri Bottas for the second Audi F1 seat.
How Gabriel Bortoleto’s signing impacts the F1 grid
However, Audi F1 have landed Bortoleto – managed by Aston Martin driver and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso – after McLaren agreed to release the 20-year-old.
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Bortoleto is to become the first full-time Brazilian F1 racer since Felipe Massa in 2017.
As for Schumacher, Binotto says he was a serious candidate but when it came down to it, he had a decision to make and overlooked him – just as Mercedes motorsport boss Wolff did when he opted for teenager Antonelli over Schumacher, who has been Mercedes reserve driver the last two years, as Lewis Hamilton’s F1 2025 successor.
“Yeah,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com when asked if Schumacher had been under consideration for an Audi F1 race seat. “We had several talks, he was certainly a strong candidate.
“I know him very well from the past and I know his strengths and maybe his weaknesses as well, but certainly I think he would have been a good choice. I think there have been many candidates and Mick would have been certainly a good choice as well.
“Now sometimes you need to come to a decision. I think there is no reason why or blames for me, the reason simply goes we decided for Gabriel and that’s it.
“And I think that maybe we should ask the same of Toto: why Kimi and not Mick?
