Marko 'never interested' in signing up Mick Schumacher

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Red Bull motorsport consultant Dr Helmut Marko has stated that he never considered rising star Mick Schumacher for a place in the team's junior driver programme.

Schumacher clinched the FIA European Formula 3 title by pulling off a late surge to overhaul longtime leader Dan Ticktum. The Briton is currently backed by Red Bull, and had even been considered to be in the running to take over a race seat at Toro Rosso.

Losing out on the F3 title means that Ticktum still lacks the necessary points to be eligible for a superlicence, so Toro Rosso has turned instead to Alexander Albon to race for them in 2019. Ticktum will try to make up the shortfall by racing in other series in the meantime.

Schumacher is likewise currently short of enough points to enter F1, and will take part in the FIA Formula 2 championship in 2019. But even if he can repeat his recent stunning form, Marko doesn't seem interested in signing up the 19-year-old.

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"He was never on our radar," Marko told Motorsport-Magazin this week. "He is well looked after in his own environment. That's why we have never interfered or shown any interest."

While Marko was disappointed that Ticktum had proved unable to clinch the F3 title, he wasn't buying into any suggestions that Schumacher has received extra assistance because of his family name.

"It was amazing," Marko said of the five race winning streak in September at Hockenheim and the Red Bull Ring that propelled Schumacher to the top of the standings. "But I'm not there often enough, I just followed Macau closer. Everything was normal."

Rather than Red Bull, the Schumacher name is more closely bound up with Ferrari and Mercedes, the last two teams that the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher raced for.

Toto Wolff has said it would be nice to see the Mick Schumacher at Brackley at some point in the future. "I have no doubt he has the potential to be a successful driver in Formula 1. Maybe one day with us, maybe not."

"It is obvious that for him the Maranello door will always be open," added Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene.

Former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger agreed that it was hard to resist the temptation of seeing a Schumacher back behind the wheel of a Prancing Horse at some point in the near future.

"Mick Schumacher will be at Ferrari in two years," Berger predicted at the Golden Helm awards. "But I do not know yet if he will drive the motorhome or in Formula 1!

“Seriously, Michael's son in the second part of the season has impressed me," he added. “They say he went strong because he had the best material, but I saw him winning in the wet too.

"He has the opportunity to grow in F2. Obviously everyone's dream is that in a couple of years he can sit behind the wheel of his father's car."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.