Mick Schumacher will not be on the grid this year following his sacking by his debut team Haas as the future of Germany in sport is questioned.
Mick Schumacher will be taking the role of a reserve driver with Mercedes in 2023. The German driver was sacked by his American team Haas only to be replaced by his German counterpart Nico Hulkenberg.
Now, as Sebastian Vettel has hanged his helmet, Hulkenberg remains to be the only active German driver on the F1 grid.
AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost believes that Mick Schumacher could have “become the new hero” for Germany. Tost previously admitted that he wanted to sign Schumacher for AlphaTauri.
The Austrian has highlighted how crucial Schumacher’s career is for the interest of Germans in F1:
“Mick’s career determines the interest in Germany,”
Franz Tost told Auto Bild.
“Nico Hülkenberg cannot do it alone.”
“They [the German public] wanted to see Michael Schumacher win back then and not the engine or the car from Mercedes. Only heroes trigger a boom. As Michael Schumacher showed.”
“The second example is Boris Becker. Before him, interest in tennis was more reserved for the affluent citizens. That changed abruptly with the success of Boris and Steffi Graf. Suddenly all the kids wanted to play tennis.”
“He could have become the new hero, but unfortunately he’s out of F1 for now. What a shame.”
Regardless, Schumacher is already planning for his growth with his new team. The German will be on the sidelines with the Mercedes team as their reserve driver.
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