Franz Tost, who was the director of Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri between 2006 and 2023, is not convinced that the massive arrival of young drivers is positive for the teams. However, it is mainly based on the Brazilian race concerning Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto, and on the junior categories for Gabriel Bortoleto.
“Oliver Bearman often went off the track and seemed overwhelmed. And Franco Colapinto had two heavy accidents. This cost Williams millions. From a political point of view, it would also be an extremely unfortunate decision” assure Tost.
According to the Austrian, the teams were wrong to snub Mick Schumacher, and he praises the German’s progress and maturity: “Mick is still young and he won the two crucial junior categories, something Bortoleto has not yet managed to do.”
“Also, he is very fast and has constantly improved during his two years with the Haas team. And now, in his role as test driver, he has a lot of experience with the cars of current Formula 1.”
Not only critical of young drivers, Tost thinks that Sauber should have favored Schumacher over Nico Hülkenberg for the Audi F1 project: “In my opinion, he no longer has a place in Formula 1. They would be better off giving a chance to a young German like Mick Schumacher.”
Belgium
