Guenther Steiner might have left Haas, but his Haas failures won’t leave him. Mick Schumacher, son of 7-time champion Michael Schumacher, who drove and miserably failed under his leadership, is yearning for an F1 return. However, the German has encountered tough competition from equally worthy drivers. But as far as Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko’s assessments go, Schumacher isn’t the culprit of his failed past.

The Haas driver, whose 2-year stint ended in 2022, was poorly managed by Steiner. Former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor highlighted the same last year, exposing Steiner’s “shouting and screaming” and his second-rate driver management. But that’s not what the former Haas boss was famous for, anyway. It was his unabashed personality on Netflix’s Drive to Survive that drew fanfare for him and the American team. But what about Mick Schumacher? The son of F1’s greatest driver appeared to be a fruit that fell away from the tree after his multiple crashes cost Haas millions in damages.

Earlier this year, his uncle, Ralf Schumacher, gave Steiner an earful for his “senseless outbursts”. Ralf believed that Steiner’s statement about Alpine needing to choose ‘the best drivers’ was a veiled dig, and an attempt to “prevent a comeback from Mick”.

Now that Mick’s back in the driver market for 2025, with Alpine and Audi as his options, Helmut Marko has attempted to get rid of Schumacher’s old reputation, echoing Ralf. “In sporting terms, I think he was already at his best,” the Austrian told F1-Insider, as quoted by Motorsport. “He won Formula 3 and Formula 2, and that made him interesting for Formula 1. However, at Haas he was not treated properly by Netflix star Guenther Steiner, that’s a fact,” he added, taking a dig at Steiner’s Netflix-earned popularity.

Schumacher is currently driving for Alpine’s WEC (World Endurance Championship) team. Because the French team has an open seat for 2025, he is naturally in contention for it. But would that be his best choice, considering Audi emerging as his other prospect?

Audi v/s Alpine: Mick Schumacher’s best options evaluated

All F1 fans felt nostalgic when the initials ‘MSC’ returned to the timesheets in 2021. However, because Mick Schumacher was joining the then-worst team on the grid, expectations were low. In his rookie year, he scored 0 points in 22 races. What was worse was his inability to control the car on several occasions, often finding the barrier and costing Haas big. Though he improved in 2022 to score 12 points, Steiner axed him as the relationship bitterly ended.

Schumacher still carries scars from that. To an extent, that has also prevented Alpine from signing him without hesitation. Moreover, their reserve driver, Jack Doohan, is considered as the favorite to replace Esteban Ocon. Oliver Oakes replacing Bruno Famin as Alpine’s Team Principal has further stacked the odds against Schumacher. Oakes has worked with Jack Doohan in F3 when the Aussie came runner-up in the championship with Hitech GP.

Over at Audi (currently Sauber), Schumacher might have a better career path with the seat alongside Nico Hulkenberg available. The German team seems equally uninterested in their current line-up of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Though new boss Mattia Binotto is reportedly interested in F2 driver Gabriel Bortoleto, who is P2 in the standings, Schumacher stands a better chance than at Alpine.

He also showed his true caliber in July when he took part in McLaren‘s Pirelli test, where Williams’ Alex Albon and F2 driver Piero Fittipaldi were present as well. Surprisingly, Schumacher outpaced the others despite doing the fewest laps. If he sees his F1 return through with Audi, contributing to building a new team from the ground up will massively boost his spirits. It could also make up for the lost ground from his counterproductive Haas stint.