In the short term, Nyck de Vries moves into the field of Formula 1 drivers in Monza – and scores points straight away. That arouses desires. The Dutchman is another competitor of Mick Schumacher, who is still without a contract for the coming season. De Vries has now met with Red Bull.
For Mick Schumacher, alternatives to his current racing team Haas in Formula 1 seem increasingly rare. The Dutchman Nyck de Vries in particular has recently aroused desires among the teams and could ensure that some doors close. “As the media noticed, I traveled to Austria to speak to Helmut Marko there,” said the 27-year-old on the Dutch TV show Humberto op Zaterdag at the weekend. De Vries thus confirmed what had previously only been rumours: Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri would like to sign him.
If this succeeds, AlphaTauri would in turn let Pierre Gasly go – and that is Alpine’s desired solution, the Renault factory team would like to fill its free cockpit with a Frenchman. For Schumacher, the place at Alpine has so far seemed like the most attractive alternative. Despite good performance, the 23-year-old still has no contract with his Haas racing team for 2023. A possible switch to Williams, on the other hand, seems more like a step backwards as things currently stand.
Haas team boss Günther Steiner has repeatedly emphasized that the driver question still has to be evaluated extensively, but the status quo has been unchanged for about four months now: After a weak start to the season, Schumacher is now consistently stronger than his teammate Kevin Magnussen. However, the Haas has fallen behind other cars over the past few months, and there are also technical problems, which is why Schumacher has been waiting for points in Silverstone and Spielberg for four races now. “We’re not in a hurry when it comes to the driver question, and Mick still has a chance to show what he can do,” said Steiner.
De Vries, Schumacher’s new competitor on the driver market, recently made his Formula 1 debut at short notice in Monza. The former Formula E World Champion replaced Alex Albon at Williams, who had to undergo appendectomy. De Vries convinced right away in ninth place and has other interested parties in addition to AlphaTauri. He is in talks with Williams anyway, and he has also been testing for Alpine in Budapest since Monday.
At first it was said that Schumacher should also play there, but this is not the case. Alpine regular driver Esteban Ocon is good friends with the German and has been campaigning for weeks for the French racing team to sign him as Fernando Alonso’s successor for the coming season.
(This article was first published on Monday, September 19, 2022.)
