Despite his decision to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season, 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher re-joined the sport in 2010 with the new German team, Mercedes. Michael raced with the team until the end of the 2012 season. During his time there, he achieved a podium and a best championship position of 8th.
Ahead of the final race of the 2022 season, Haas F1 announced current driver Mick Schumacher (son of Michael Schumacher) would no longer race at the team after Abu Dhabi after 2 years at the American team. This announcement was followed by former Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg announced as Mick's replacement. Nico Hulkenberg has not been on the F1 grid since 2019 but Haas Team Principal, Guenther Stiener believes Hulkenberg still has the "fire" he had back in 2019.
Following this announcement, there has been speculation regarding the young Germans future. As well as Mick not having a future secured for the 2023 season, Daniel Ricciardo also didn't heading into the final race of the season. Ricciardo was linked to both Red Bull and Mercedes for their reserve driver role and it has recently been revealed that he has re-joined the Red Bull team.
Although, this still leaves a vacant role at Mercedes regarding the reserve driver position. Formula 2 driver and Mercedes junior driver Frederick Vesti could take up this role but has signed with Prema for the 2023 season and therefore may not be available for races if Lewis Hamilton or George Russell were unable to race. As a result of the rumours regarding Mick Schumacher and Mercedes, Team Principal Toto Wolff has commented saying, "The Schumacher name is always welcome at Mercedes" and believes Mick Schumacher to Mercedes "just fits".
It was reported recently that Mick Schumacher to Mercedes could be considered a "done deal" by reliable Spanish Journalist Sergio Rodriguez meaning an announcement may not be far away.