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'Political reasons' prevented serious Red Bull interest in Schumacher
- GPblog.com
Mick Schumacher at AlphaTauri? Franz Tost would have loved to see it happen, but due to "political reasons" the idea never got serious. Indeed, Schumacher was still under contract with Ferrari as a junior and a switch was therefore out of the question, Tost told the German RTL.
Tost about Mick
"For me personally, he was always a topic of conversation. I would actually have liked to have had Mick in the car," Tost says. The AlphaTauri team boss says he is convinced of the talent of the son of record champion Michael Schumacher. According to the Austrian, Mick has everything needed to become successful in Formula 1.
Schumacher would have been welcomed with open arms by Tost, but his ties with Ferrari were enough reason for Red Bull not to follow through. So the fact that Schumacher was never an option seriously considered was a political consideration. Tost: "It never came to a commitment then. But personally I hold him in high regard."
It was announced in December that Schumacher and Ferrari would part ways. Had that decision been made earlier in the year, Schumacher may well have been an option for AlphaTauri. Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda will race for AlphaTauri in 2023, the team announced back in September.
Schumacher to Mercedes
As we know, there was no longer a spot available for Schumacher in Formula 1 after Haas F1 chose to team up with Nico Hulkenberg. The German opted to switch to Mercedes as a reserve driver. A good move, thinks Tost: "It's a very, very good team, one of the best in Formula 1, of course he can learn a lot there. Hopefully he will get the chance to take to the track several times."