Mick Schumacher could have been an AlphaTauri driver in 2023, with Franz Tost revealing he is a big fan of the German's abilities.
Schumacher is set for at least a year on the F1 sidelines after losing his Haas seat to Nico Hulkenberg for 2023, with him not able to a get a new deal for a race drive sorted for next season.
Instead, he is going to be working with Mercedes as a third driver and ambassador, which feels as though it's about as good a role he could have gotten in his circumstances, and he'll be itching to learn as much as possible from a team that has been one of the most dominant that the sport has ever seen.
That could put him in good stead for a return to the grid in the future, then, though there are obviously no guarantees over a comeback, and we'll just have to see what unfolds for Schumacher in the months ahead.
As per a recent interview with RTL, though, things could have well been very different for Schumacher during the 2023 season, with AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost revealing that he is a big fan of young Mick and that he would have liked him to be driving one of his cars for this coming campaign:
“Mick is talented and also has what it takes to drive successfully in Formula 1,” Tost said.
“I would have actually liked to have had Mick in the car.”
ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - SEPTEMBER 03: Mick Schumacher of Germany driving the (47) Haas F1 VF-22 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of The Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on September 03, 2022 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
In the end, due to Mick's contract with Ferrari at the time, there appeared too many obstacles in the way for Schumacher to join the Red Bull sister team, and instead they have Nyck de Vries driving alongside Yuki Tsunoda as a replacement for Pierre Gasly, who is at Alpine for 2023.
Schumacher will work with Mercedes, meanwhile, for the next few months and in that time he'll aim to pick up as many lessons as possible in order to keep developing.
You can keep up to date with all the latest F1 news, rumours and results right here at Give Me Sport.