Outside Line: Schumi-Time at Toro Rosso?

It's a strange time at Toro Rosso. The stable that has brought Formula 1 some of its brightest talents in Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, and Max Verstappen, the impending promotion for Pierre Gasly and presumed departure of Brendon Hartley has left that stable suddenly empty.

Sure, they're bringing back Daniil Kvyat, but there's still another vacancy, and short of resurrecting Jaime Alguersuari, there are no sure-fire in-house candidates to fill it. Alex Albon, Pascal Wehrlein, Sergey Sirotkin, and even the likes of Jean-Eric Vergne have been bandied about as potential options, but maybe it's time Helmut Marko and co. looked even further afield – namely, towards Mick Schumacher.

Yes, Marko may have previously said otherwise, Schumi junior to Red Bull, well… junior almost makes too much sense.

Firstly, there's the obvious publicity boost in returning the Schumacher name to F1, which in itself has to put him under consideration for a team whose entire existence is based on PR. Even if he turned out to have the personality of a wet sock, it's hard to think of a driver who would elicit more popular approval – after all, the only thing better than a great legacy is for that legacy to continue into a new generation, and there's sure to be a legion of Michael's fans hoping his son can do exactly that.

Secondly, even if you set the Schumacher name aside, there's the simple fact that he's

pretty damn quick. The 2018 Formula 3 champion, the 19-year-old overcame a slow start to the season to record eight wins and 14 podiums, taking the title over Red Bull junior driver Dan Ticktum by 57 points. Combining that result with his runner-up finishes in Italian and German Formula 4 in 2016, he now has more than the 40 points required for a FIA Super Licence, meaning that on performance alone, he is proven to be F1 calibre.

Finally, there's also potential security Mick offers Red Bull in the long-term F1 driver market. Of course in the team's ideal world, Verstappen will stay long-term and Gasly will be an able replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, but that's far from guaranteed.

Already tongues are wagging about where Verstappen might go when his contract ends after the 2020 season, while Gasly hasn't been quite the force-of-nature at Toro Rosso some of his predecessors were, and might turn out to be more like Kvyat than Ricciardo. Having another promising driver like Schumacher waiting in the wings would be an excellent insurance policy.

So all that said, the natural question is, why isn't a Schumacher-Toro Rosso union already a thing? Unfortunately, there are still a few obstacles in the way, even aside from Marko's general reticence to look outside his organisation.

When Marko made the aforementioned remarks in September, all signs pointed to Albon being the next man up, but his commitment to Nissan's Formula E team for 2019 seems to have put a damper on that -- still, even if he lost to Schumacher Ticktum remains a strong candidate, and while currently without a super licence can help his cause by winning this weekend in Macao.

There's also the small matter of Schumacher's F3 team Prema's connections to Ferrari, although you could argue the Scuderia's future lineup is more settled compared to Red Bull with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc at the helm – if Marko were to fight for him like he did Verstappen a few years ago, it's unlikely they would stand in his way.

Realistically, the only good reason why this shouldn't happen is if Mick himself doesn't want it to. Even in an age where teenage debutants are a regular occurrence, the 19-year-old seems cut from the old school in approaching his own development, having spoken previously of his preference "to move forward gradually, step by step, preparing really well".

Maybe that means a stint in Formula 2 before breaking into the big leagues, or maybe he just doesn't want to get involved with a program known for its driver-shenanigans, but at the same time, he'd be foolish to at least not consider an opportunity.

Before he can win in F1 he has to get to F1, and while maybe Ferrari and Mercedes come calling, that's a big risk -- would you consider Leclerc more likely to fail than Gasly? Or Mercedes bailing on Valtteri Bottas, George Russell and Esteban Ocon?

Mick would need an awful lot to swing in his favour to make it work at either of those teams -- the path is much clearer at Red Bull, and if Helmut Marko does the smart thing and makes the call, he should be sure to answer it.