With Mick Schumacher being considered for a 2025 F1 seat by Alpine, his former team boss Guenther Steiner has his reservations. He thinks Alpine should aim higher, targeting the best driver available on the market.
Alpine is looking to bounce back from a challenging start to the F1 2024 season, having scored just two points so far. The futures of their drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, are uncertain as their contracts are up at the end of this season.
Bruno Famin, Alpine’s team boss, confirmed that Schumacher, who has impressed in the World Endurance Championship, is among their options. However, speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner emphasized that Alpine, as a works team, should have the budget to secure top-tier talent. He mentioned Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda as prime examples.
When asked if he would consider Schumacher if he were the boss at Alpine, Steiner replied, ‘In the moment not, no. You need to get the best driver you know is out there. I think people who are showing that they’re very good. And as a works team, you need to do the best you can.’
Ocon recently faced criticism following a first-lap collision with Gasly in Monaco, resulting in his retirement from the race. Given their rocky history, Steiner believes Alpine should think carefully about its 2025 driver lineup.
Steiner elaborated, ‘Obviously you think about it, absolutely you think about it, because it’s just something you don’t want. And I always say, team-mates don’t need to be the best friends, they don’t need to go out for dinner, but they need to respect each other. Because in the end, but it’s generally in life, you need to respect other people. If you don’t like to drive with this guy in your team, just go somewhere else. If I don’t like to be somewhere, I move on. I’m not trying to fight it at the cost of somebody else, which is the team.’
Steiner pointed out that one of them should have acknowledged their inability to coexist, adding, ‘Everybody knows about the history of the two and even their parents apparently had to keep them apart. That’s not what you want when you’re going, ‘Oh, we will be team-mates, yeah it’s all good, we just fought the last 20 years, but now that’s all good,’ you know?’
Current Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan is also in the mix as a potential option for their 2025 lineup.
Alpine has some crucial decisions to make regarding their future driver lineup. While Mick Schumacher is a contender, Guenther Steiner believes they should aim for the very best, considering the abundant talent pool available.
Source: Planetf1
