Alpine may think about signing current Haas driver Mick Schumacher to the squad to serve as Fernando Alonso’s replacement in 2023.
Alonso shocked the Formula One world when he announced he will be driving for Aston Martin in 2023. The 41-year-old Spaniard inked a multi-year contract with the Silverstone-based team and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
Alpine made the error of appointing Oscar Piastri as his successor without first contacting him before he left. However, the team suffered an unpleasant setback when the 2021 F2 Champion stated that he would not be racing for Alpine in 2023. It is rumored that McLaren has decided to replace outgoing Daniel Ricciardo with Piastri.
With Alpine’s seat likely vacant for 2023, various well-known drivers have been mentioned as options. Although Laurent Rossi’s squad might be looking for a less expensive option elsewhere, Ricciardo has been the name most closely associated with the Alpine seat up to this point.
For Rossi, signing Ricciardo will undoubtedly be expensive. He is among the most appealing and well-liked drivers on the circuit. Wherever he goes, he brings some spectacular racing accomplishments with him despite his difficulties at McLaren. Mick Schumacher is one alternative Rossi might take into account.
Haas seems to be hurting Mick Schumacher’s prospects of staying with the team after they announced that former F1 driver and Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi would participate in two FP1 sessions for the American team.
There is currently no contract in place for Schumacher for the upcoming campaign, leaving the German with just two viable choices if he wants to stay in the championship.
The first choice is to stay at Haas, but even if things have become much better over the course of the season, it’s not thought that things are very well between him and the team right now. The other alternative is to wait for an offer from the Alpine F1 Team, which may very well occur based on the CEO of Alpine’s recent behavior.
The fact that Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi follows Schumacher on Instagram has been made public; this may be a sign that Rossi admires the young German. However, the likelihood of Schumacher joining Alpine is unknown, although F1 commentator Alexey Popov believes it cannot be ruled out.
“It turns out now that Laurent Rossi, the CEO of Alpine who has been mucking up a lot of stories over the past couple of years, has followed Mick Schumacher on social media,” said the Russian F1 commentator for Match TV.
“Now everyone is saying ‘Maybe they won’t take Ricciardo after all. Mick, as we hear, is leaving the Ferrari academy and has problems at Haas.’”
“Even though he started to go better in the last races, the relationship has apparently been ruined… In short, Ocon is now the lead driver and Mick is young but has gained enough experience for his third season.”
“So there is a lot of talk about him… Is it very likely? I don’t know, to be honest.”
