Alpine refute ‘three’ driver list in the wake of Schumacher/Doohan test
Mick Schumacher had hoped to land an Alpine F1 seat
Mick Schumacher did “well” in last week’s Alpine test, but whether that’s enough to pip the “longer than three names” list for the 2025 race seats remains to be seen.
Alpine have one-half of their 2025 driver line-up decided after Pierre Gasly put pen to paper on a new multi-year extension, but his team-mate has yet to be revealed.
Alpine’s 2025 candidate list is ‘longer than three names’
Last month Alpine announced they’d agreed, by mutual decision, to part ways with Esteban Ocon after five seasons and one race victory with the Frenchman reportedly off to Haas.
As for who will replace him, that list was thought to be down to three drivers after Gasly called Mick Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Carlos Sainz “three great options”.
Sainz is Gasly’s preferred option for his 2025 team-mate as he admitted the Ferrari driver has the “added value of having a lot of experience and also experiencing strong teams”.
But, he added, Alpine reserve driver Doohan and WEC driver Schumacher are “both very talented, very fast, they both already included in the team, they know the guys”. They, he added, “fit very well”.
The two hopefuls, who have both made it knows they’d like to be the one to replace Ocon, took part in a test in the A524 at Le Castellet and impressed team boss Famin.
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“The test went well for both drivers, we have to be honest about that,” Famin told Sky Deutschland. “They both had a similar program and they did well. That’s great for both of them!”
He, however, refuted Gasly’s claim Doohan and Schumacher were the only two drivers on the list of potential candidates alongside Saizn.
“They are both on our list, but that list is still quite long,” he said. “Longer than three names.”
Although no details of Doohan and Schumacher’s day on the track were revealed, Bild reports it was ‘difficult to evaluate’ given the contrasting track temperatures between Schumacher’s morning run and Doohan’s afternoon outing.
There’s also the fact that the Australian reserve driver has more experience in the Alpine F1 cars than his German rival. ‘It is therefore unclear how meaningful the times are,’ claimed the publication.
But what Bild was clear on is that this is Schumacher’s last chance to return to the Formula 1 grid, and it mainly depends on Sainz’s decision.
If the ousted Ferrari driver wants the Alpine then it is his. But if he opts for Williams or Audi, then Schumacher “could” be back in the sport. But Alpine are the 25-year-old’s only option.
As Gasly put it, someone is going to be disappointed.
“I think it’s quite clear at the minute you’ve got more drivers and you’ve got seats available so some guys are going to stay on the sideline,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, at Silverstone.
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