Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-times Formula One world champion Michael, will double up as a Ferrari reserve driver next season while also having a regular race seat in the US-owned Haas.
Team boss Mattia Binotto says the 22-year-old German will be available to stand in at 11 of the record 23 scheduled races, should Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz be unavailable.
Italian Antonio Giovinazzi, who lost his place at Swiss-based Alfa Romeo this year - but has secured a drive in Formula E - will be reserve for the 12 races that do not clash with the electric series.
"Whenever he [Giovinazzi] will be at the race track he will be our reserve driver," says Binotto.
"And as well he will be available to our customer teams, so both Haas and Alfa Romeo.
"For the remaining 11 races... Mick Schumacher will be reserve driver for Ferrari."
Haas have their own official reserve in Brazilian Pietro Fittipaldi, who stepped in twice in 2020 after Romain Grosjean's fiery accident. Alfa Romeo also have Poland's Robert Kubica in the role.
Ferrari-backed Schumacher made his Formula One debut this season, outperforming fellow-rookie Nikita Mazepin, but neither scoring a point for a tail-end team devoting all their resources to the 2022 car.
Binotto says Schumacher improved through the season, in consistency and speed, and Ferrari's support would continue with the simulator available at Maranello and Ferrari engineers working with him.
"If I look at the last races he was a lot closer to the cars ahead while Haas didn't really develop the car at all," says the Ferrari boss.
Binotto says Giovinazzi will have a full programme of simulator work and suggested the Italian had a chance of returning to the starting grid full time in 2023.
"There are I think 11 seats which will be free in 2023... 11 have contracts finishing at the end of 2022. So it is important for him as a driver to still be part of our F1 programme," he says.
Binotto says he hopes to see Ferrari winning races again next year after a blank in 2021, and moving closer to Mercedes and Red Bull.
Reuters.
