via Imago
Image Courtesy: Imago Guenther Steiner (L) and Mick Schumacher (R) (Creidit: Imago)
via Imago
Image Courtesy: Imago Guenther Steiner (L) and Mick Schumacher (R) (Creidit: Imago)
Alpine has decided that they want to look for another driver after Esteban Ocon‘s Monaco collision. Ocon has been known to be an aggressive driver who often ends up in trouble. Bruno Famin, the team principal had a difficult decision to make and ultimately Ocon’s departure was a mutual decision in the interest of the team. Now this begs the question, who will replace Esteban Ocon?
While there is still more than 2/3rds of the season left, Alpine still has time before they need to settle in with their second driver. Pierre Gasly will also exhaust his contract by the end of this season and if Alpine doesn’t continue with him, they need a new lineup. To help with that, Guenther Steiner seems to have come to the rescue, stating exactly what he would do.
Guenther Steiner as the team principal of Alpine
At the Red Flags podcast, Guenther Steiner was asked by the host, to take on the hypothetical role of being Alpine’s team principal. A position that Steiner was at with Haas. The host told Steiner, “I’m putting you in charge of Alpine. What is your decision at the end of this year? What are you doing?”
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To everyone’s surprise, Steiner spoke about replacing both drivers. Saying, “I wouldn’t have the same two drivers,” the 59-year-old made it clear that for Alpine to win more races, a change in the lineup would be essential. This prompted the host to question which two drivers would be the former Haas principal’s pick.
Considering his options, Steiner said, “I don’t think Sainz would go there, that’s my opinion, but you would look after Tsunoda. It’s Alpine, it’s a world team, Alpine should have the money to get the best driver on the market. Obviously, Albon is gone. I would cross out one of them.”
Herein, the possibility of Mick Schumacher being a part of the team was brought up and Steiner wasn’t up for the idea. He replied, “In the moment, No. As I said, you need to get the best driver who is out there.”
Mick Schumacher had a below-average season in Haas and despite being the son of the legend himself, the skill gap is visible. However, this is no reason to throw a shadow on son Schumacher,for achieving what his father did was no easy task.
How was Mick Schumacher’s performance in Haas?
It was in January 2019 that Mick Schumacher got into F1 by joining the Ferrari Driver Academy, which was done with the help of his father’s ties with the team. He had his debut behind the F1 wheel in April 2019 as he piloted the SF90 during day one of in-season testing in Bahrain.
Schumacher Jr. made his debut at an F1 GP with Haas where he scored his best finish of P12 and finished 19th in the driver’s championship with 0 points in the bag. After his uneventful debut, the 25-year-old only managed to score points in 2022 at Silverstone, coming in 8th, and then at the Austrian as he finished his career best of P6.
Ultimately, he completed the season at P16 and 12 points in the bag which was an improvement, but not enough to convince Guenther Steiner to continue with the driver; even when, Bruno Famin said, “It would be a mistake not to have Mick on the list,” of his 2025 options. That being said, Steiner still believes that Mick Schumacher has a long way to go before he can compete for the championship. Let us know in the comments below, what you think about Mick Schumacher’s time in F1.
