Last year, with Pierre Gasly announcing his departure, AlphaTauri had several options in the market. But they ended up with Nyck de Vries, who impressed multiple people on the grid with his Italian Grand Prix performance. This also piqued Red Bull chief Helmut Marko’s interest, who decided to hire him even though team principals of both sister teams were not convinced. Franz Tost, the team principal of AlphaTauri, who will retire at the season, wanted Mick Schumacher instead of the Dutchman.
After serving two seasons at Haas, the 2020 F2 champion ended up without a drive for the 2023 season. And by finishing his relations with the Ferrari Drivers’ Academy, he had no other refuge to go.
In the end, Mercedes hired him as a reserve driver, which propelled the German race driver to change his loyalty to the Brackley-based team. But for Tost, he was a promising target to replace Gasly this year.
Franz Tost reveals Mick Schumacher was a genuine target
The availability of Schumacher, who had two years of experience in his kitty, was a desired prospect for Tost, as he revealed in his recent interview. The AlphaTauri boss also disclosed that he fought for his hiring for a long time.
“I have often stood up for Mick, that is no secret. He already had two years of Formula 1 experience at Haas at that time and he is still young. Both points were not the case with Nyck [De Vries], which is why I was already pushing hard to secure Schumacher last year,” Tost said to Sport.de.
🚨| Franz Tost wanted Mick Schumacher to drive for AlphaTauri.
“Other circumstances” stopped this move from happening..#F1 #F12023 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/mSunFn31nv
— AnythingF1 (@AnythingF1_) January 22, 2023
However, it couldn’t happen, as Nyck de Vries convinced Helmut Marko. But at the same time, there were some big accusations about the Red Bull henchman from a prominent Schumacher family member.
Ralf Schumacher makes a big accusation against Helmut Marko
The former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who also happens to be the uncle of Mick, accused Marko of having something against the Schumachrs. Though, Marko snubbed such allegations and claimed that AlphaTauri is there to develop the young Red Bull drivers, which is contrary to De Vries’ hiring.
But now, De Vries is gone. But Mick, who is in Mercedes, didn’t get a call up from AlphaTauri. Instead, Daniel Ricciardo was brought back into the system as the Australian cut short his sabbatical to grab the vacant seat.
Meanwhile, Schumacher is still without an F1 drive ahead of the upcoming season. The summer break is yet to come, and that’s when major career reports of F1 drivers emerge.
