Tost confirms rumour: 'I thought of Mick Schumacher myself'

Franz Tost has confirmed that Mick Schumacher was an option for AlphaTauri in his eyes. The German had to leave Haas but was not chosen over Nyck de Vries for the 2023 F1 season.

For Schumacher, this year is mostly about watching from the sidelines. After two seasons with the Haas F1 team, Mick now has to settle for a role as Mercedes' reserve driver, and in that role, he did make an appearance during a Pirelli tyre test last week, with the German finally able to get behind the wheel again.

Role of Schumacher

Schumacher would have preferred to be in an F1 car, of course, and up until Monza 2022, Franz Tost said the German was also well placed. ''Then suddenly, Pierre was awarded to Alpine, and that gave us a place. Until Monza, it was completely unclear who would be our driver. And then, logically, I thought of Mick Schumacher,'' Tost told Formel1.de.

Due to De Vries' spectacular race on his debut for Williams, the Dutchman was favoured by Helmut Marko. Ralf Schumacher recently lashed out with a tirade that Marko would hate the Schumacher name and had therefore not chosen Mick. According to Marko, however, that was not the case. In the Austrian's eyes, his two seasons at Haas meant Mick was no longer a young talent, a place AlphaTauri is meant for.

Tost is otherwise not complaining about De Vries' arrival. He is seemingly happy with his new driver and wants to give De Vries time in the sport more than anything else. The Formula 2 and Formula E champion struggled in the first races, but now seems to be finding his feet at the Faenza-based team. Now, he is only waiting for his first points for AlphaTauri, as the Dutchman managed to score points for Williams on his debut in Italy.