Tost missed out on signing Schumacher because of 'political reasons'

Franz Tost is enthusiastic about Mick Schumacher's qualities. Although the talented driver could not live up to expectations in the past two seasons at Haas F1, the AlphaTauri team boss thinks he will still succeed in Formula 1.

Tost previously attempted to bring Schumacher to AlphaTauri. However, he failed to get everyone in the team behind him. "I would actually have liked to have had Mick in the car," he states in conversation with RTL Deutschland.

He tells the German medium that the plan proved unfeasible due to circumstances, however. Indeed, according to the Austrian, "political reasons" played a role, referring to the fact that Schumacher was still part of Ferrari's junior team at the time.

In hindsight, Tost balks that the situation did not turn out differently. However, he is sure that Schumacher is a good driver who knows what it takes to succeed in Formula 1. He argues that Schumacher needs time to show that to the outside world. "It never came to a commitment. But personally I think about him a lot," Tost ended.

Next season, Schumacher will come out as a reserve driver for Mercedes. Tost expects this to be the driver's right choice. Indeed, although he will no longer be seen on the grid every race weekend, he hopes the driver will be able to grow and take his chances with the top team.