Helmut Marko confirmed to the media that they don’t see Mick Schumacher driving for AlphaTauri in 2023 after Alpine make an offer for Pierre Gasly.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko announced ahead of the 2022 Dutch GP that Alpine has approached AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly. He will be replacing Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso.
Gasly is free to negotiate with Alpine for the 2023 season. At the moment Alpine’s conditions have not met Red Bull’s.
But Marko confirmed that Gasly is eager to join Alpine. Marko stated, “If our conditions are met, we wouldn’t stand in Gasly’s way. It would be a dream come true for him to drive in a French factory team.”
Red Bull won’t stand in Pierre Gasly’s way of a move to Alpine for 2023 so long as its conditions are met, says Helmut Marko
Marko also ruled out Mick Schumacher as an option for AlphaTauri next yearhttps://t.co/hJed1PGoCE
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) September 2, 2022
This leaves a question regarding who fills Pierre Gasly’s vacant AlphaTauri seat. And the most obvious choice is Haas driver Mick Schumacher.
Mick was eyeing the Alpine seat for a while. He has a contract with Haas until the end of the 2022 season. But Haas has delayed contract extension talks with the German.
Mick is set to leave the Ferrari Driver Academy at the end of the year making him a free agent next year. This made him an obvious candidate for the Alpine driver role.
So much so, that even Esteban Ocon was thrilled to recommend his ‘good friend’ Mick’s name to Alpine. But seems like Mick will not be driving for Alpine and his future in F1 looks uncertain.
Also Read: Red Bull agrees undisclosed fee to release $5 Million a year earning Pierre Gasly
Helmut Marko considering Colton Herta over Mick Schumacher
If Pierre Gasly moves to Alpine, Red Bull will lose out on an experienced driver. But according to Helmut Marko, the team already have arrangements to fill the vacant seat for 2023.
Marko said, “We’ve already thought about that, but we don’t want to announce that yet. We have some people in the junior squad who have a super licence. For the reserve driver, we would recruit someone from that.”
And it seems that Marko is referring to IndyCar driver Colton Herta. Herta seems to be AlphaTauri’s pick for the next season. Marko remained secretive about the details of the mystery driver.
1.) He does 6 FP1s this year taking him to 38 and the FIA let the last 2 points slide. 2.) FIA allows full points for his Indy Lights season and he races Abu Dhabi 2022. 3.) FIA gives Indycar a more representative SL point allocation and retroactively enforces it.
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) September 2, 2022
He acknowledged the fact that Red Bull has been closely monitoring Herta’s progress. But in order to make the move, he lacks the required FIA Super License points.
Herta currently has 32 of the required 40 Super License points. He can gain an additional 1 point for every Practice session where he would need to complete 100km without penalty.
When asked about whether they are considering a move for Mick Schumacher, Marko said no. He told that Schumacher was “not an option” for the team.
Also Read: Sebastian Vettel plays ‘agent’ as Mick Schumacher set to lose $1 Million F1 job
