“Mick’s career determines interest in Germany”
(Motorsport-Total.com) — In the 2023 Formula 1 season, there will only be one German top-flight driver, Nico Hulkenberg, who will be back. Sebastian Vettel He ended his career at the end of the 2022 seasonMick Schumacher could no longer find a regular cockpit after two years at Haas.
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Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel will stop driving in Formula 1 in 2023
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AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost fears that this will have a very negative impact on interest in Formula 1 in Germany. “Mick’s career determines the interest in Germany,” he says. “Nico Hulkenberg can’t do it alone.” In conversation with “Sport 1”.
With Mercedes, there is a German brand that has been racking up victories and titles in Formula 1 for years. But: “People need heroes – made of flesh and blood, not metal,” asserts Tost, recalling Michael Schumacher’s return with Silver Arrows.
“[Die Fans] He wanted to see Michael Schumacher win at that time and not a Mercedes engine or car. Only heroes release boom. Michael Schumacher has also shown,” says Tost, who believes his son Mick will be able to take on the role at some point.
Mick Schumacher ‘could have been the new champion’
“He could have become the new champion, but unfortunately he’s out of the top flight at the moment, which I think is a shame. I wanted to see him at AlphaTauriAnd not because of the name, but because I believe in his talent and his abilities, ”Toast confirms.
“You don’t just win Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships,” broke the shaft of the 23-year-old, who has hired Mercedes as a replacement driver for 2023. According to Tost, the goal should be “for Mick to find his way back to the starting field as quickly as possible.” Could.”
Because: “The crowd won’t really notice you unless you’re always in focus. And you just do it as a pilot,” says Tost, who says regarding a possible return on the starting grid: “It’s not impossible, but it’s not easy.”
A few weeks earlier, Norbert Haug, Mercedes’ long-serving motorsport boss, harshly criticized the current state of Formula 1 in Germany as a “tragedy”. “which only motorsports fans can be ashamed of”.
No more Grand Prix, just one driver
There hasn’t been a consistent German Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar for years, and it was Germany’s Sebastian Vettel’s last victory in over three years. The last time Germany experienced a prolonged drought was more than 30 years ago.
In 1992, Michael Schumacher grabbed the first German victory in Formula 1 since Jochen Mass in 1975. Then there was no German success until 2019, only in 2007. “Germany is spoiled,” noted Franz Tost, in light of these numbers.
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The situation is similar to that in football. “I am convinced that the lack of interest in the past World Cup also has something to do with the poor results of the national team. If they had reached the final, half of Germany would have watched the matches in Qatar,” he thinks. Toast.
Without Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, it certainly wouldn’t be easier in Formula 1 in Germany this year.