Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost insists that teams having two rookie drivers have ‘no chance’ at succeeding due to the sport’s talent pool.
Ahead of the 2021 season, Haas decided to do something very uncommon in the world of F1. Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean’s contracts were not renewed after the 2020 season ended and the American team announced that Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher would be replacing the outgoing duo. This raised several eyebrows as both drivers had no experience in F1 whatsoever.
Schumacher joined Haas in F1 coming on the back of a Title winning F2 campaign in 2020. Mazepin on the other hand finished fifth and many people questioned his addition to the line-up.
Mazepin reportedly got into the Haas seat after his father Dimitry Mazepin invested heavily in the team. His company ‘Uralkali’ became a title sponsor for the Kannapolis based outfit.
Haas’ team principal Guenther Steiner defended his decision to sign two rookie drivers. “Just because no one’s done it before does not mean we cannot do it,” the 56-year old said.
Steiner had to bite his own words as the 2021 season progressed. Their car was not enough to get them out of the bottom place, and both drivers struggled to adapt to Formula 1. On top of that, they were involved in several crashes throughout the year, leading to added expenses, which no team wanted to bear ahead of 2022’s budget caps.
Also read: Mick Schumacher reacts to current F1 stars voting him as a ‘Top 10 driver’ for the 2021 season
The competition in Formula 1 is too tight, Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost feels
Franz Tost had to deal with a rookie driver himself in 2021. Yuki Tsunoda took part in his first F1 campaign last year, teaming up with Pierre Gasly at Alpha Tauri. While Gasly went on to put in consistently strong performances, Tsunoda struggled to get to terms with the car in the early stages.
As a result, Tost knows how difficult having a rookie driver can be for the team. He insists that a team having two of them, has ‘no chance’ of success.
“Nowadays with this kind of F1, to have two unexperienced drivers you have a real big challenge,” he said. And in the constructors’ championship you will immediately be in the back.”
“There is no chance with two rookies to be in the midfield or in the front, because the field is far too competitive, it’s too strong. If you look to the qualifying times, it’s hundredths of a second.”
“I think in Saudi Arabia Pierre Gasly was at 0.087s behind Charles Leclerc, which is 78 centimeters or whatever, and that was two positions. And if you have a young driver, an unexperienced one, you’re talking about tenths, not about thousands.”
“No, I think that the combination with one experienced driver and a rookie is better,” the 66 year old added. “Then of course if there’s a very high skilled young driver Scuderia Alpha Tauri is always in a position and ready to educate a young driver.”
Also read: Antonio Giovinazzi will not give up on his F1 dream and vows to fight for a 2023 seat
