Schumacher linked up with Mercedes this s🧔eason in a role as their third driver, backing up Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

He was axed last year by Haas who were left frustrated by his cras𝓰hes and his inexper༺ience.

"🍰I think he deserves to be on theꦿ grid," said Wolff.

"The moment you're not feeling confident in a car over a prolonged period, the more pressure you put on yourself, the less good you p♔erform, and I think this happened at Haas.

"He is quick – if you win F3 and F2, there is high potentia📖l in you, and he was never able to show it [in F1].

"I'm glad we have a third driver that I know will do the job if 𒈔one of 🃏ours eats a bad fish!

"But his contribution in the simulator is tremendous, and that makes us sometimes do these big jumps from Friday to Saturday, bec﷽ause he's driving his socks off overnight."

Schumacher was particularly praised for a late-night finish on the simulator ahead of the Briti🐼sh Grand Prix which boosted Mercedes’ hopes.

Ahead of this weekend’🦂s F1 Italian Grand Prix, he will know that there aren’t too many options for full-time race seats on the 2024 grid.

The under-pressure Logan Sarg🍷eant has been backed by Williams but Schumacher remains a high-profile name that any F1 team could turn to.