A speculative but believable Silly Season report claims Mick Schumacher is top of the list to drive for Aston Martin should Sebastian Vettel retire. But what about Fernando Alonso?
Motorsport Italia report that behind-the-scenes in the F1 paddock moves are afoot to line up, Michael Schumacher’s son, Mick top of the queue should Vettel indeed retire, as many expect he will at the end of 2022, as Aston Martin have simply not provided he or his teammate Lance Stroll a decent car.
Some argue that Vettel should have walked away from F1 after the Ferrari parting, but a lifeline thrown by Lawrence Stroll prevented that; the four-time World Champion no doubt harboring hopes that with new F1 rules for 2022 Aston Martin would leap up the grid considering the efforts and money being pumped into Stroll’s mega F1 project.
But it’s been a disaster, exacerbated by the failure of a huge raft of updates to the greatly transformed AMR22 for Barcelona did nothing to improve them in the F1 pecking order, in fact, they may have even gone backwards.
Body-language wise, Vettel is clearly at the end of the road with the F1 midpack he has toiled in for far too long; a driver who has never won a Grand Prix when starting lower than third on the grid. The pain is showing, and his demise, as a much liked and respected race driver, has not been a pleasant one to witness.
The report by Roberto Chinchero cites Aston Martin’s interest in expanding into the German auto market as a reason to keep a German in the second car.
Stroll’s team has no young driver program, their reserve driver is Nico Hulkenberg, thus they would have to poach young Schumacher from Ferrari.
The Reds have funded his time at Haas but it is clear, at this stage, that Mick has a long way to go to be a Charles Leclerc and is looking more like an Antonio Giovinazzi.
A very good race driver, but not good enough for F1 is what Schumacher is proving to be, now in the shadow of a not 100% Kevin Magnussen, who has shown the younger driver up in the half dozen races in which they have been teammates .
Mick’s shortcomings proves that two rookies at Haas last year were not smart
Baby Schumi’s rookie year benchmark was hapless Nikita Mazepin. This year the true test, up against a veteran K-Mag, and Michael’s son has been found wanting thus far.
Granted, its perhaps early days to write off such a potential talent, however by the end of this season we will know if Mick is the real deal or not. If he proves to be, by massively upping his game and consistency then, maybe, replacing Vettel wouldn’t be so daft.
On the other hand, the very much plug-and-play is Alonso, in top form as he has shown each weekend (as good as he has ever been according to himself) and, apparently, favored by Big Boss Lawrence to partner Lance at Aston-Martin.
Word is that at the moment the 40-year-old Spaniard is not saying “No” but rather waiting on Alpine to make a call on next year. The French team have Oscar Piastri wasting away commentating when he should be on track gobbling up experience. Getting the kid in a car asap should be a priority.
But nothing will happen because the wait is on Vettel; this orchestra of musical chairs depends on if the German decides to quit or not. Should that happen, Alonso slotting in at Aston Martin, making way for Piastri at Alpine, seems sensible right now.
In contrast, Schumacher at Aston does not make sense unless they lure him there for a sabbatical, as team reserve, watching his father’s nemesis – Alonso – ply his trade and, in a couple of years, when the great Spaniard finally quits, little Schumi could step up – highly unlikely though.
Or Schumi could continue at Haas with Ferrari backing until Guenther Steiner has enough of his bent metal or a higher bidder than Ferrari comes along for the seat or when Ferrari realize that the Legend’s som ain’t got it and ditch him for the next batch of FDA tament to emerge.
Another question worth asking is: if the Aston-Alonso option does not come about and inexperience is okay why go for Mick when Oscar would then be available?
