The points in England have taken a weight off Mick Schumacher's back - apparently heavier than his last name. Judging by his record in previous series, the tendency is to see even better results from the German, even if the lack of updates from Haas is a major stumbling block
British GP, July 3. In the final meters, Mick Schumacher tried a final maneuver over reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen in the fight for seventh place. The Dutchman defended himself, letting the German take the flag in eighth, but the celebration in the Haas pits was as if the #47 had won a victory.
It was, in fact, a victory, albeit a personal one. With the eighth place in Silverstone, Mick got his first points in F1. Then came the next race, in Austria, and Michael Schumacher's son went even further. With the right to a "handle" against Lewis Hamilton, the sixth place made him reach 12 points in two races. More than the result, however, what was more surprising was the change in attitude of the young German, who decided to turn the numerous criticisms and protests into fuel to turn the key and get back on track in the World Championship.
Monaco GP, May 29. On lap 26, Schumacher lost the rear end of his car and crashed so hard into the guardrail that the Haas #47 broke in two. It was the second time in the 2022 season that the young German had wrecked a car - the first had been in qualifying for the race in Saudi Arabia, and the violence of the impact was so great that Mick was out of Sunday's race.
In both accidents, fortunately nothing happened to Schumacher, but the crash on the streets of Monte Carlo, especially, provoked a wave of public charges coming from Haas boss Guenther Steiner. "I think he knows that it's not good for the team to keep crashing the car. If I had to explain that, then I shouldn't be here, he knows the damage."
The reason was very simple: constrained by F1's spending ceiling, and still without the sponsorship of Russian Uralkali, the American team could not afford to have to rebuild cars on such short notice. The message, therefore, was clear: Mick needed to stop crashing, not only for his own sake, but for the team's financial health.
"At some point we are going to run out of parts, even if you put money into it, physically it becomes impossible. So we need to make sure nothing happens to the car, so Schumacher needs to adjust and not do what he did in Monte Carlo. There is no simple answer. There are many things that we need to solve now," Steiner said at the time.
There was still another detail: in seven races so far, Haas only had Kevin Magnussen's 15 points. Mick's best result was 10th place in the sprint race in Emilia-Romagna, but only the top eight score points in the qualifying race.
Then came the Azerbaijan GP, and the impression was that Schumacher had opted for the saying "slow and steady wins the race. At least he did not crash, but running at a slower pace than expected was not the solution sought by Haas.
Then came qualifying in Canada, and Mick decided to turn the key: he got a great sixth position on the grid, right behind his teammate Magnussen. In the race, however, a problem made him retire, but despite the cold shower, the tone was already completely different. "It's important to have a good result. But it's also something to build on. And, you know, it just proves to everyone that, yes, I'm here for a reason," the driver said.
If we look at Schumacher's record in the two previous F1 ranks, it is no exaggeration to say that the second half of the year has everything to lead Michael's son to even greater achievements. Although it is difficult to explain, the truth is that Mick has not imposed domination wherever he has been since the beginning of the season, but surprisingly needed only half a championship in both F3 and F2 to run over his opponents and win the titles.
"As an athlete, you're always looking for that pressure because that's what will 'light the flame' that makes you go faster. And [Steiner's comments] did that, in a way. Getting into the scoring zone at Silverstone was exactly what I needed for things to start going right for me," Schumacher said.
It is difficult to make any predictions about how the next races will go for the driver, but one crucial point cannot be left aside: the performance of Haas suffers greatly from a lack of updates, and it is at the mercy of the characteristics of the track where it will run. Therefore, we cannot expect Schumacher to be a top-10 presence in all the 11 races that still remain in 2022.
But one thing cannot be denied: yes, he has talent, and here it is worth mentioning the fight against Lewis Hamilton in the sprint race in Austria. Schumacher made a few lines of defense worthy of a veteran driver, and also came through cleanly in all the battles for position. In the main race, he even managed to pull off a upset by overtaking the Mercedes driver at the start. And as a prize, he was voted Driver of the Day by the fans.
Much is expected of the Schumacher surname in Formula One, and not for nothing. Mick knows that he will always carry the weight of being the son of one of the greatest drivers that ever lived in the category. But at least the weight of the lack of points was behind him in England, and this, no doubt, had an effect. As the young man himself said, "for my part, I am happy that I can now focus on what is really important: the races and my driving.