The key strength Schumacher can rely on as Haas decides his F1 future

“I’m very happy with the position that I’m in. And yeah, hopefully I’ll be even more happy after this weekend.”

Mick Schumacher is speaking to Autosport at the foot of the gigantic Hard Rock Stadium, around which Formula 1 is racing for the first time at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. It’s early May, sweltering, and he’s just come back from meeting several Miami Dolphins NFL players. And it’s his best F1 weekend yet.

Except, of course, that was until there were five laps remaining in what became Max Verstappen’s triumph for Red Bull. There, Schumacher, under severe pressure from attacking rivals, sent a wild lunge down the inside at Turn 1 and clattered into an Aston Martin.

To make the point even more painful, it was being driven by his close friend and mentor, Sebastian Vettel. The stewards ruled it a racing incident, but the result was the same – Schumacher’s best chance of his first F1 points had disappeared and his subsequent radio messages were anguished.

F1 is now heading to Baku for 2022’s eighth round, the halfway point is approaching, and Schumacher’s quest for his maiden top 10 goes on. And that’s a problem, because he doesn’t have a deal in place for 2023 and is now driving for a team that over one off-season has gone from no-hoper to a serial points threat.

Schumacher has lost his rookie status and an erratic and lesser driver across the Haas garage. Plus, it’s crunch time, the time of year when teams publicly admit to considering their future line-ups, so they can avoid speculation and the risk of destabilisation as constructors’ championship places and the lucrative prize money they reward are decided later.

Late contact with Vettel derailed what had been a promising Miami GP weekend for Schumacher

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

“He needs to make some points to move on,” Haas team boss Gunther Steiner tells us a few hours ahead of the Monaco GP. “I think for sure pressure is now higher than it was last year because last year – I always hold my hand up saying – the car was what it was. But now, the car is pretty good. So, we need to take advantage of that and we cannot wait forever. There is a time I say, ‘Hey, it needs to be done now.’”

This is the story of Schumacher’s second F1 season so far. It starts with Nikita Mazepin and his backing being dropped from Haas as a consequence of Russia invading Ukraine, with Kevin Magnussen brought in as his replacement. The Dane was immediately back in the points, while Schumacher’s best chances to match him have been taken away by his own errors – crashing heavily in Jeddah, spinning in the GP at Imola, hitting Vettel in Miami – and misfortune.

He was spun around by Esteban Ocon after a good start in Bahrain, and late on in Miami had been denied a critical DRS tow from Fernando Alonso, which meant Ocon and Vettel closed in and pounced before the Turn 1 crash (which was why Alonso’s frustration at being penalised for chicane-cutting was unwarranted).

"You always grow into the sport, but you also grow as a human being. I now have more of an idea of what it’s about and what is important and maybe what is less important" Mick Schumacher

In short, Schumacher now has a clear benchmark to measure against in Magnussen, with the all-rookie 2021 Haas line-up leaving Steiner with “no idea” about exactly how good they were. In Mazepin’s case, it was clear he was a long way off Schumacher’s level but, with Magnussen brought back to a squad where he is very well known and liked, the 23-year-old was presented with both an opportunity and a challenge.

He can learn from Magnussen but, if he fails to beat a driver who is surely destined not to make the top echelons of the championship, then Schumacher’s own ceiling will be revealed. Now more than ever in F1, if a young driver has what it takes to succeed in a top team, they are promoted there and thrive.

“Yeah, I would say so,” Schumacher replies when we ask if he feels different with a year and a bit’s F1 experience. “You always grow into the sport, but you also grow as a human being. I now have more of an idea of what it’s about and what is important and maybe what is less important. You put your priorities a little bit better and therefore have more mental capacity for other things.”

Schumacher’s personal growth has long been evident this year. In Bahrain, while some of his peers were suggesting drivers should still be allowed to race if they test positive for COVID-19, Schumacher eloquently stated his disagreement: “I don’t want to be the person who puts those people at risk because I want to race.”

Schumacher's personal growth has been in evidence this year as he is no longer a paddock rookie

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“I guess I feel more open and share my opinions,” he says of that episode. “Where maybe last year I was more, ‘just let the others talk and I’ll sit back and listen’. But now, I feel like I can speak my mind. And I have the right to do so. That’s why I did it.”

One of the key aspects of Schumacher’s 2022 will be using F1 weekend time to learn from Magnussen – exactly as Haas intended when it plucked the experienced racer from a future Peugeot World Endurance Championship Hypercar drive.

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Magnussen knew of the team’s intentions and, while his previous time at Haas occasionally got fractious with former team-mate Romain Grosjean, it’s still clear that he cares how his team-mate performs. Just witness the 29-year-old’s pained reaction to Schumacher’s recent Monaco shunt…

“It’s great,” Schumacher says of his relationship with Magnussen. “Kevin, he’s very open and somewhat still keeping to himself. So, it’s not like we’re on top of each other or whatever. Everybody gives themselves the room that they need to work, basically.

“But I feel that we work very well together. We’re open in terms of sharing what we know. And also, if we have any tips, we will be open about them together. So, it’s very positive. And I enjoy working with somebody who’s very mature.”

Beyond what we’re assuming is a pointed (and rather amusing) comment on his former team-mate, Schumacher’s explanation reveals how different Haas is in 2022. Not only do he and Magnussen share data and set-up choices, but we can deduce that there is no destabilising pressure coming from across the garage.

Drive to Survive recently revealed the extent to which the Mazepins were willing to go to gain an edge – not that it ultimately helped Nikita. It’s not that he wants a deeper connection with Magnussen – “It’s the right balance,” Schumacher says – it’s that with his new team-mate there simply is no deeper manoeuvring or political gameplay.

That has helped Haas move on from a turbulent pre-season, when the team’s continued existence was threatened. That the watching world’s focus is now on points and future driver line-ups rather than considering hundreds of jobs potentially being lost says much about how far Haas has come in just four months. And as the person who spans the two eras, Schumacher is delighted for his team and its new-found potential.

Schumacher gets on well with Magnussen, and praised his Dane's maturity

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“It’s definitely great for everybody,” he says. “You see that in their moods, you see it how they work. Not that they didn’t enjoy working last year, but you just feel that extra bit of [excitement]. And now if we’re not in the points, or if we’re not doing well at all, then you see a disappointment, whereas last year it was just normal.

“So, it’s good to have that and to be reminded why we do this or why this is the sport we’ve chosen as teenagers or as children at times as well. So yeah, I love being part of this.”

It is understood that Haas will make a decision on its 2023 line-up in the summer months. So, what does Schumacher need to do to keep himself there? There is no doubt that he needs regular clean weekends. The Jeddah crash was estimated to have cost $1million, while his Monaco shunt at lower speed still did a huge amount of damage and is thought to have a similar repair bill.

But he has something on which he can rely. Imola, Miami and Barcelona all demonstrated that he can be a points threat

Haas is understood to have similar damage costs worked into its 2022 budget as it did with its 2021 all-rookie line-up, but that money remains a resource that could be devoted to improving the VF-22, with its compliant and strong front end on turn-in that Schumacher prefers. He is also failing to match Magnussen over one lap – their qualifying head-to-head is 5-2. And, of course, he needs those points.

But he has something on which he can rely. Imola, Miami and Barcelona all demonstrated that he can be a points threat. It’s worth remembering how long it took George Russell to score his first F1 points for Williams, with his blistering 2020 qualifying performances rather wrecked by race errors.

Schumacher does not have the carrot of a future works drive ahead of him given that Ferrari has re-signed Carlos Sainz to partner Charles Leclerc until 2025, but he remains contracted as reserve driver to the Prancing Horse, which will have a say in his Haas future as its engine supplier.

But beyond that, Schumacher has shown he can reach where he needs to be. In a midfield car, he’s had no Q1 exits – not even Vettel can say that, let alone Lance Stroll in the other Aston. He must build on his promise quickly, but the fact that it’s there already is a key strength to deploy when Schumacher writes the concluding chapters of his 2022 story.

Schumacher hasn't had a single Q1 exit this year so far and has shown he can mix it in the midfield

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images