Tost on choice of De Vries: 'My preference was Schumacher'

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost would have preferred Mick Schumacher to be in the second AlphaTauri seat this season. The team boss revealed in an interview with German Sport.de that he had expressed his preference for the German on several occasions. In the end, Helmut Marko cut the knot and gave the seat to Nyck de Vries.

The AlphaTauri seat next to Yuki Tsunoda initially went to Nyck de Vries in 2023. Red Bull's advisor preferred him to (among others) Mick Schumacher. For the Dutchman, however, the F1 adventure ended after only ten races; from the Hungary GP, Daniel Ricciardo took his place at AlphaTauri.

Tost would prefer Schumacher to De Vries

The choice of Nyck de Vries was not the right one in Franz Tost's eyes. The Austrian would have preferred Schumacher to occupy the seat in his racing stable. "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.

When Tost was asked about the current situation of Mick Schumacher [Schumacher is reserve driver at Mercedes], the team boss expressed his regret that the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher does not have a seat this season. "I especially regret that Mick does not have a seat in Formula 1 at the moment, because I think he deserved a seat." Asked whether there might be future opportunities at Williams, the Austrian team boss indicated that Schumacher should take every opportunity to race again, regardless of which team a seat becomes available.