Tost: Hulkenberg 'past his prime', no longer belongs in F1

Former Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost says Sauber recruit Nico Hulkenberg no longer has a place in F1 and is past his prime, insisting that Mick Schumacher deserved a second chance in 2025.

Hulkenberg has has a successful season with Haas, chalking up nine points finishes to date to put him in tenth place in the Drivers championship with three races remaining in 2024.

He has a total of 31 points putting him ahead of the likes of Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll. His team mate Kevin Magnussen is 15th in the standings with only 15 points.

Haas failed to claim any points in Sao Paulo where Hulkenberg failed to finish either the sprint race or Sunday's Grand Prix, while Oliver Bearman - standing in for an unwell Kevin Magnussen - was outside the top ten on both occasions.

Hulkenberg will leave the team at the end of the year and will take up a seat at Audi's Sauber squad alongside new recruit Gabriel Bortoleto. But Tost reckons that this is a poor decision and that it's time for Hulkenberg to exit F1.

“The last few races have shown that Nico Hülkenberg is past his prime, and in my opinion no longer belongs in Formula 1,” he told F1-Insider.com this week, despite Hulkenberg scoring points in three of the last four races.

• Read also: Schumacher’s F1 future grows darker after Sauber snub

Hulkenberg previously 'retired' from F1 at the end of 2019 when his contract with Renault came to an end. He subsequently returned for two races in 2020 as a reserve for Racing Point (now Aston Martin), and again in 2022.

That reignited the now 37-year-old driver's thirst for F1 and he subsequently signed up for a new full time role at Haas in 2023. Despite starting 224 Grand Prix races, he's never finished on the podium since his F1 debut in 2010.

This week, Sauber boss Mattia Binotto announced that Hulkenberg's 2025 team mate will be rookie driver Gabriel Bortoleto, who is currently leading the Formula 2 championship, but Tost said that Mick Schumacher would have been a better choice.

Schumacher had two seasons at Haas from 2021. Neither he nor team mate Nikita Mazepin scored points in the first season, and Schumacher's sophomore tally of 12 points was half that of Mazepin's replacement Kevin Magnussen in 2022.

Schumacher has since gone on to serve as Mercedes' reserve driver, while also racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Alpine. But Tost reckons that the 25-year-old deserves another chance in F1.

“[Bortoleto] has done a good job in the junior classes so far, but the jump to Formula 1 is huge," suggested Tost. “They should go a different route and sign Mick Schumacher instead.

“I would play the German card, especially in these difficult times," he argued. "That's the best way to get employees who are critical of Formula 1 back on board.

“Mick is also still young and has won both of the decisive junior classes, something Bortoleto has not yet managed.

"He is very fast, continuously improved in his two years with the Haas team and now has a lot of mileage experience with the current F1 cars in his role as a test driver.”

However Sauber’s decision to sign Bortoleto to a multi-year contract all-but slams the door on Schumacher's return to F1. The only seat still to be confirmed in F1 is as at RB where Red Bull is juggling a stable of junior drivers.

Even his test role at Brackley is under threat, with Mercedes believed set to recall Valtteri Bottas now that the Finn has lost his seat at Sauber from the end of the season, having failed to score any points in 2024.

Tost competed as a driver in Formula Ford and Formula Three in the 1980s before moving into team management, becoming principal at Toro Rosso in 2005 where he remained until the end of 2023.

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