Like father, like son ? The adage was too difficult for Mick Schumacher to break into a sport, in this case Formula 1, which elevated a father, Michael, the most successful driver in history with Lewis Hamilton, to the rank of legend.
After only two seasons in F1, “Schumi junior” will leave the motorsport elite on Sunday after the last round of the year in Abu Dhabi. Maybe not forever, at only 23 years old the road is still long, but it is clear that he has not yet convinced.
Arriving through the back door in 2021, at Haas, the only team to end the year with zero points, he comes out of it through a ventilator, replaced by a ghost, his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, 35, 181 starts and zero podiums on the clock .
A disavowal for the son of Michael Schumacher, whose future at the highest level is now very vague. Dropped by his team, powered by Ferrari, he should also leave the bosom of the Ferrari Driver Academy, which allowed him to climb the ladder.
“It’s obviously disappointing, because I feel like I’ve done a good job so far,” he reacted Thursday at a press conference. “We had some ups and downs for sure, but I think the trend was always improving.”
Objective 2024
“The file is anything but closed for me”, he also promised his fans on social networks, ending his message with “PTW”, “prove them wrong” in English (Prove them that they are wrong ).
For 2023, he still has a slim chance of staying in F1. A seat at Williams still remains to be validated. But the British team announced that it was reserved for the American Logan Sargeant, provided that he obtains his Super license, essential to race in F1. It should be a formality for the current 3e of Formula 2, which must finish in the first six of the championship.
And even if he didn’t get it, no one said Schumacher would be Williams’ plan B. Especially since being the plan B of a 21-year-old pilot with no experience would not be flattering. The native of Vufflens-le-Château, Switzerland, is aiming for 2024 at best.
In 42 Grands Prix, Schumacher has not done better than a 6e square. Of course, his single-seater was one of the worst performers. In 2021, Haas finished last. It was difficult for him to do better than a 19e place, and he at least finished ahead of his former team-mate, the Russian Nikita Mazepin.
Magnussen as developer
“It’s only my second year in Formula 1 and last year I don’t even know if you can really count it because obviously it was a difficult year, always at the back,” he said. he justified.
Mazepin ejected, due to the links between his billionaire father – whose company was the main sponsor of Haas – and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Schumacher had a completely different challenge in 2022 with a faster single-seater and a new teammate: Kevin Magnussen .
Faced with the experienced Dane, the young German did not keep up. Magnussen started with a 5e place in Bahrain then a 9e in Saudi Arabia. Schumacher by an 11e place then a violent accident in Jeddah, all alone in qualifying, depriving him of the race.
The German driver is paying the price for his numerous accidents, including the one in Japan, which cost his team “an additional half a million euros in damage”, according to Haas boss Guenther Steiner, for whom “it simply shouldn’t to arrive “.
We will have to wait for the 10e race of 2022 to see his first points. And in the end, before the final meeting on Sunday, Schumi Jr, 16ehas 12 points against 25 for Magnussen, 13e. Not to mention Magnussen’s incredible pole position in Brazil, when Schumacher finished last in qualifying… The big gap.