Learner. Last. Happy: Schumacher fulfills his first Formula 1 contract

Wednesday December 16, 2020

Learner. Last. Happy.
Schumacher fulfills first Formula 1 contract

Mick Schumacher is gaining further important experience on his way to Formula 1. On test drives in Abu Dhabi he is not really fast and comes in last. His Haas team is still very satisfied, because Schumacher is already learning important things for the coming season.

Last. More than three seconds behind the leaders. But Mick Schumacher was "very happy" anyway. Because for the upcoming Formula 1 rookie with the well-known name, the chase for times was not on the program during the last test drives of the year in Abu Dhabi. Above all, the new Haas pilot should: Learn. Learn. Learn.

"I think we have achieved our goal," said Schumacher after the so-called Young Driver Test, in which the 21-year-old completed 125 laps and received important information about his new car: "That is not a matter of course when testing. We have each other made a lot of laps, valuable laps, and that was very positive. "

"Mick should understand the car"

In the end, Schumacher collected 694.25 kilometers, which should help him in his promotion to the premier class next year. "The focus was on understanding the tires better. For that, the long runs were very good," said the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher: "Now I have a good knowledge that I can build on – even if the tires come out next year will be a little different. "

The fact that the Formula 2 champion on the Yas Marina Circuit with his 1: 39.947 minutes was a good 3.6 seconds slower than ex-world champion Fernando Alonso (Renault) didn't bother Haas technical director Ayao Komatsu. "The focus was on Mick understanding the car and starting to play with the balance to get the best out of Mick," said the Japanese: "We didn't look at lap times, we wanted him to learn how For example, different amounts of gasoline have an impact. "

Schumacher has to wait until March

Even if Formula 2 is considered the perfect preparation for Formula 1, the differences between the cars are huge. Schumacher's new bolide has around 300 hp more, and the handling of the car is completely different – every test kilometer counts in preparation for an emergency. In addition, the sensitive standard tires play an enormous role on the really big stage.

That is why Schumacher should gain experience in "household" with the tires, especially "with a heavy car" at "high asphalt temperatures", but also at low temperatures. In Abu Dhabi, the tests and the season finale were driven into the sunset. Komatsu drew a positive conclusion that Schumacher had accomplished his mission and suggested "many changes" to the car itself and "used the tools that were available to him". Schumacher himself can hardly wait for the 2021 season to start on March 21. "I was so happy to be in the car, it was so much fun," he said.