Ferrari link rules Schumacher out of AlphaTauri drive

Ian Parkes
Saturday 3 September 2022 14:11

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has ruled out the possibility of Mick Schumacher driving for AlphaTauri next season.

With Schumacher's Haas contract up at the end of this year, the 23-year-old German has been linked with a move elsewhere as his current team is refusing to confirm if his deal will be renewed for 2023.

With Pierre Gasly expected to join Alpine despite a deal with AlphaTauri for next year, and with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda also out of contract, Schumacher had been mentioned for a potential drive with the Faenza-based squad.

Marko, however, has dismissed the notion. Asked directly by Sky Germany whether Schumacher was in the running, he replied: “No. He is not one for us."

Explaining the reason why, Marko added: “He is a Ferrari junior and that is why we have never done business with him. We have our own programme and prefer our own people.”

Herta in the running

Despite such a comment, Marko declined to follow a similar line with IndyCar star Colton Herta as the American is understood to be an option, despite a contract with McLaren.

CEO Zak Brown, however, is refusing to stand in Herta's way, although a shortage of points on his super licence is a stumbling block at present.

With regard to Herta, Marko added: “We have, of course, already thought about a scenario like this, but we don’t want to make anything public at this stage."

Red Bull's current junior pool includes four drivers currently in F2 - Jehan Daruvala, Ayumu Iwasa, Dennis Hauger and Liam Lawson.

It is understood none of the quartet are poised to be promoted to a race seat, although, Marko confirmed: "We will commit one of them to the role of reserve driver."