Mick Schumacher wants to follow suit. The young Formula 1 star really likes it in Spielberg. He draws confidence from his previous positions as a racing driver.
Mick Schumacher likes it in Spielberg, he finds the area “Heidi-esk”. The mountains, the meadows, lots of nature. The bike is in the luggage, if time permits, the young Formula 1 star goes for a short lap.
Up and down – also a bit like the career of the now 23-year-old, which repeatedly shows amazing parallels. According to them, things should continue to go uphill for Mick Schumacher in the coming weeks and months. As if to prove it, he raced into the top ten to finish eighth in the turbulent qualification.
Schumacher’s top ten debut at the right time
Schumacher has always celebrated his greatest successes every two years. In 2016 he became runner-up in Formula 4, both in German and Italian. The year before he was promoted to the lowest formula series. In 2018 he won – in his second year – the European Championship in Formula 3. In 2020 – again in his second season – he won the overall ranking in Formula 2. In 2022, in his second year in Formula 1, he caught up at the last race in Silverstone a strong performance in eighth place, his first points in the premier motorsport class.
And when he talks about it days later in the Spielberg paddock, a smile plays on the face of record world champion Michael Schumacher’s son. However, he wouldn’t say “that’s why weight was taken off my shoulders”. Mick Schumacher found that it was more due to the problem-free weekend in Great Britain in general and the rides before. Nevertheless, the top ten debut came at the right time. The serious accidents in Saudia Arabia and Monaco had brought him under criticism.
And that in a phase in which a new contract is also at stake, his current one with the American Haas team ends after this season. The way in which the Ferrari youngster moved up from 19th place to eighth place in a highly dramatic race, and then fought a gripping battle with world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, both pleased and amazed Mick Schumacher’s boss. “We almost couldn’t believe what happened there,” said Günther Steiner.
Second F1 season marked by “many new things”
Schumacher’s second year – once again – shows parallels to the years in which he also got off to a good start after a rather mixed first race characterized by bad luck and mistakes. With a difference. His year as a rookie in Formula 1 was not suitable as an apprenticeship year. That becomes clear this season. “I think there were a lot of new things I had to learn this year that I couldn’t learn last year,” he explained. But what is new is what is essential: duels on the track, strategies in the race and the ability to remain calm even in critical moments.
“Last season and this season are fundamentally different,” said Mick Schumacher’s boss. In the Red Bull Ring newspaper on the Grand Prix, Steiner emphasized: “The intensity, the pressure – the people outside don’t even notice how much that has changed.”
In the transition year 2021, Schumacher only had to do his best. The Haas was just too bad for real racing. “But this year it’s a completely different game,” emphasized Steiner. Mick Schumacher is in the second stage of development. Also means: In the mountains of Styria, things should go further up.
