Alpine will give Mick Schumacher the chance to audition for a 2025 race seat in a Formula 1 test in France next week.
Schumacher has recently been behind the wheel of a Mercedes F1 car and has also put in extensive time on the simulator as part of his reserve duties for the Silver Arrows. But he hasn't raced in the sport since he lost his Haas seat at the end of 2022.
This year, to keep himself sharp, he signed up to race in the World Endurance Championship as part of the Alpine hypercar entry. And that affiliation may yet open the door for the return to the F1 grid the son of seven-time champion Michael craves.
Esteban Ocon's departure at the end of the year has already been confirmed and Alpine are considering all their options for next year. Team principal Bruno Famin recently said Schumacher, 25, would be among those on the shortlist.
Pierre Gasly is also out of contract at the end of the year and is of interest to other teams on the grid. But newly-returned adviser Flavio Briatore hinted at the weekend that the team wants to keep the Frenchman around as he responded to questions about Alpine's driver plans, in which he is set to play a key role.
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The 74-year-old said: "[The driver line-up] is not the priority now. The most important thing is to make the car competitive. Otherwise, no driver can make a difference. I do have a shortlist of names to evaluate, but we have Gasly in the short term anyway.
"We will quietly see who will be his team-mate. We are following many young drivers, I'm not going to say who, but they are very good. First, we have to make the car faster and easier, then we'll think about the drivers."
Alpine have made a late swoop for Carlos Sainz (Getty Images)And on Monday Mirror Sport reported Alpine have made a late attempt to convince Carlos Sainz to join them. The Ferrari driver, who is being replaced at Maranello by Lewis Hamilton, was previously understood to be making a 50/50 decision between either Audi or Williams, but Alpine are trying to turn his head.
Briatore was pictured speaking with the Spaniard's father, Carlos Sainz Snr, in the Barcelona paddock - one of several conversations with his entourage which took place over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. Aware that there is no guarantee they will convince Sainz to reject Williams and Audi, though, Alpine have several other options to mull over.
As well as Schumacher, they have another contender already on the books in the form of reserve driver Jack Doohan, whose work in the simulator so far this year has been key in the team's improved form on track. Also in the frame is Zhou Guanyu, their former academy driver who is almost certainly leaving Sauber and who brings with him a significant amount cash from Chinese sponsors.
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