I am of two minds regarding Mick Schumacher. On one hand, he finished his rookie season with a total of zero points in the Drivers’ Standings, despite having had one or two decent outings in terms of in-race pace (by back-marker standards) and even qualifying – he made Q2 in France and Turkey.
He hasn’t shown me a great deal in terms of aggression though, but on the other hand, World Champions such as Sebastian Vettel are clearly more qualified to speak about the performance of rookie drivers, and Schumacher does have a strong resume to his name.
Before we get into what Vettel said about the Haas driver, allow me to speak about the said resume. It’s not even about who his father is (the great Michael Schumacher), but rather what Mick Schumacher has already accomplished in Formula 2.
He won the F2 championship in 2020 while driving for Prema Racing, and if you think that doesn’t mean much, take a look at some of the other notable F2 title-winners from the past 5 years: Pierre Gasly (2016), Charles Leclerc (2017) and George Russell (2018). If we go back to the mid-2000s, you’ll find that both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg won F2 titles before eventually winning championships in Formula 1.
What this says about Mick Schumacher is that he’s got the skill and consistency to be a title contender – given the right equipment, of course.
As for what Vettel thinks about his young compatriot, the Aston Martin driver believes Schumacher did “an incredible job with such a poor car,” as per Autosport.
“For those who are looking closely – obviously I’ve been following – and yeah, he did an incredible job with such a poor car to reach Q2 a couple of times, to have strong showings in the race, fight some of the cars that are much faster, or stick with the cars that are supposed to be much faster.”
“So, I really wish that he gets a much better car next year so he can show what he’s able to do,” concluded Vettel.
The good news is that you literally can’t do a worse job than what Haas did this year, meaning next year’s car will automatically be better, seen as how the team actually spent money to develop that one.
Before we get into what Vettel said about the Haas driver, allow me to speak about the said resume. It’s not even about who his father is (the great Michael Schumacher), but rather what Mick Schumacher has already accomplished in Formula 2.
He won the F2 championship in 2020 while driving for Prema Racing, and if you think that doesn’t mean much, take a look at some of the other notable F2 title-winners from the past 5 years: Pierre Gasly (2016), Charles Leclerc (2017) and George Russell (2018). If we go back to the mid-2000s, you’ll find that both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg won F2 titles before eventually winning championships in Formula 1.
What this says about Mick Schumacher is that he’s got the skill and consistency to be a title contender – given the right equipment, of course.
As for what Vettel thinks about his young compatriot, the Aston Martin driver believes Schumacher did “an incredible job with such a poor car,” as per Autosport.
“For those who are looking closely – obviously I’ve been following – and yeah, he did an incredible job with such a poor car to reach Q2 a couple of times, to have strong showings in the race, fight some of the cars that are much faster, or stick with the cars that are supposed to be much faster.”
“So, I really wish that he gets a much better car next year so he can show what he’s able to do,” concluded Vettel.
The good news is that you literally can’t do a worse job than what Haas did this year, meaning next year’s car will automatically be better, seen as how the team actually spent money to develop that one.