Schumacher consulted Vettel on 2024 Alpine WEC seat

Schumacher sat on the sidelines this year after losing his Haas F1 seat at the end of 2022, taking up a role as Mercedes reserve driver instead.

In 2024 the German will dovetail those duties with a full WEC campaign with Alpine's hypercar team, which was officially announced on Wednesday.

Schumacher revealed he had consulted his close friend and mentor Vettel about his next steps.

"I've briefly spoken with Sebastian about it," Schumacher said on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. "It has been a factor that I think he knows so much about motorsport, but it was also a very clear point for me to go and ask him about his opinion."

Schumacher said sitting out the 2023 season was "very tough", so it was a priority for him to find a competitive seat and stay race-fit.

"Very important," he replied when asked how crucial it was for him to go racing again. "Having to sit out the whole year has been tough. And I'm just excited to be back in the car and go race and have a new challenge.

"I'm a racing driver. I hadn't been out of racing 14 years previous to this, so it was definitely a clear choice and a clear direction that I wanted to be racing."

Schumacher will continue in his Mercedes reserve role as the team is equally keen for him to get back up to speed in a race car.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Mick Schumacher, Reserve Driver, Mercedes-AMG

"Yeah, I think for them, it was very important for me to be back on the grid and keep the racecraft up to date," he acknowledged.

But it is understood Schumacher will still be prioritising his Mercedes duties should the team ever need to call upon him and he pointed out Alpine understands his desire to return to F1 at some point.

"When you have these discussions outside of F1, I think everybody understands that if there's something opening in F1 that they will let you do it," the 24-year-old explained.

"In that sense, you can go in with a comfortable mindset in discussing what's happening next year. If, let's say, suddenly something changes, I doubt that they will hold you back from going to Formula 1."

The Mercedes role also helped steer his options for 2024, as a campaign in Japan's Super Formula or in IndyCar would have been less compatible with being on call for the Brackley squad.

"You always think about what's out there, what are the options, and you kind of try and make pro and contra list," he added.

"For me WEC was the one with the least contras and the most pros and it was pretty easy for me to decide that that was a championship to go to.

"I have [considered Super Formula] and I have also considered going west. But the thing is, if you do that, there is little chance of doing a double programme with F1."