Mick Schumacher lost out on his seat at Haas at the end of the 2022 campaign after having two disastrous seasons with the team. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner had often slammed the German for causing more damage than bringing success to the team. Even though Schumacher had such a difficult stint at Haas, there was still a possibility that he could be racing in F1 this year.
This is because before AlphaTauri signed Nyck de Vries this year, there were talks of perhaps signing Schumacher. However, that all came to an end after Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko deemed the 24-year-old ineligible.
In a recent interview, AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost explained the discussions that the side held before they chose to sign de Vries. While speaking on the Formel1.de YouTube channel (as quoted by motorsport-total.com), Tost said, “We’re driving with Nyck de Vries and there’s actually nothing more to discuss“.
Tost then explained the role Marko played in making this decision by adding, “Then came Dr. Helmut Marko, who didn’t want it for personal reasons or whatever, and decided on Nyck de Vries“. Since AlphaTauri rejected Schumacher, the German chose to sign as a reserve driver for Mercedes instead.
While the 24-year-old has not made any comments after being snubbed by AlphaTauri, his uncle Ralf Schuamcher has slammed Marko. Ralf recently suggested that Marko did not want to sign Mick as he was against the name, Schumacher.
Franz Tost believes Mick Schumacher is better than how most people perceive him
Even though Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has never been afraid of slamming Mick Schumacher in public, AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost still believes that the German does not receive the respect he deserves. In the same interview on the Formel1.de YouTube channel, Tost said that the 24-year-old is “much better” than how most people perceive him.
However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko does not believe that this was a good enough reason to sign the German. Marko hit back at Ralf by explaining the reasons of why he deemed Mick ineligible for a move to AlphaTauri.
The 80-year-old said that he has never had problems with the name Schumacher. Instead, he deems Michael Schumacher to be the greatest driver of all time. Marko stated that the major concern he had with Mick was that the German was no longer a junior.
Marko believes that AlphaTauri is a team for juniors, and that since Mick raced with Haas for two seasons, the 24-year-old would no longer fit their criteria of selection. After giving his explanation, he concluded his remarks by making it clear that “there are no personal reasons” for not signing Mick.
Marko thought of replacing de Vries with Ricciardo
Even though Helmut Marko chose to sign Nyck de Vries instead of Mick Schumacher for AlphaTauri, he revealed that he had doubts about making this decision at one point of the 2023 season. The 80-year-old stated that there was a point at which he thought of replacing the Dutchman with Daniel Ricciardo.
According to Business F1, Marko was angry following de Vries’ disastrous performance in Baku this year. The 28-year-old struggled so much that he even failed to register a lap time that was good enough for classification.
As per F1’s rules, all drivers must set a lap time that is within 107% in Q1. If they fail to do so, then the stewards have the discretion of not permitting a driver to participate in the main race.
On the other hand, de Vries’ teammate Yuki Tsunoda had a strong weekend in Baku as he finished tenth in the race and scored one point for the team. Because de Vries and Tsunoda had such contrasting performances, Marko was left fuming.
Following a few disappointing races for de Vries, the Dutchman seems to have received an ultimatum that has forced him to improve his performances. The 28-year-old seems to have responded well since he is at least getting closer to the points.
As for Schumacher, he has been helping the Mercedes F1 team with some outstanding work on the simulator. The German’s hard work seems to have paid off as he has received immense praise from Lewis Hamilton recently.
