Mick Schumacher cut an unusually enthusiastic figure at the end of the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing.
His effusive appraisal of what he called his first real day of F1 testing, after a gearbox problem severely limited his Friday running, gave the Haas driver a “new way of seeing F1”.
And Mick’s demeanour during an energetic end-of-day media briefing was a chance to see him in a different light as well.
“I have to say it feels even better driving this car than I expected,” Schumacher said when asked by The Race why he seemed so pumped up.
“This is really…fun. And it’s something I won’t get as quickly bored of. I’m just really looking forward to driving more tomorrow, and then the race weekend can’t come quick enough.
“I’m really looking forward to this season. I would love to drive every day. I could put another eight days into it and just go straight into the race weekend.”
The son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher making his grand prix debut is a feel-good story that has an element of poignancy given Michael can’t witness it trackside, still cut off from the wider world following the skiing accident that left him with life-changing injuries.
Those circumstances make Mick’s story very human. But it’s also difficult to fully engage with given he has not been someone fans have had much exposure to with the tightly controlled access to him in his life and racing career so far.
From his side, given his family circumstances and the name he carries, he’s probably had moments where he feels like an animal on display at the zoo: here is Michael Schumacher’s son, with everyone scrutinising everything he does.
For that reason, it’s probably no surprise that in our limited exchanges with Mick as a Formula 2 driver and since he was confirmed by Haas late last year, he has always been polite and well-meaning but also very measured, bordering on cautious.
On Saturday evening, he cut a quite different figure. He looked chuffed with his day’s work, spoke for longer and more excitedly than in any media briefing this writer has noticed previously (even after he’d won the F2 title), and recounted his day with relish. There was an infectious enthusiasm that gave him an unexpected additional charm.
It was interesting to note that he was not just getting carried away with excitement but was peppering his answers with insight into what makes him tick as a driver, too. His references to better understanding the scope of tools available to an F1 driver were particularly illuminating.
“It’s a lot of fun driving an F1 car around here, being able to push so hard and being able to rely on the rear, really feeling the grip and feeling the changes in every set-up you do,” he said.
“And being able to feedback straight away if you change something on the steering wheel was really nice. There are a lot of tools that you can use to improve the driving on track – and instantly.
“So that’s really positive for me, coming from Formula 2 where you basically had nothing to change and you really have to live with what you get.”
Mick is a smart, hard-working driver – one who has risen through the junior ranks through discipline and strong development rather than the sort of outrageous natural ability that characterised an ascent like Charles Leclerc’s, for example.
As he enthused over what he could do behind the wheel to change the car, the thought occurred that this was a driver who will throw himself into working out what every switch change achieves to give himself a better car to drive.
A large part of Mick’s enthusiasm was rooted simply in how much better Saturday was than his restricted Friday. Though he has now got a reasonable amount of F1 experience across tests with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Haas, these final moments in his actual 2021 car are vital. And he looked like a driver who has savoured every mile.
“I learned a massive amount of new things, which were all positive,” he said.
“Being able to get those laps under my belt. I’ve done 88 laps today and obviously 15 laps yesterday. That’s quite a big difference! And it really gave me a new way of seeing F1 and also understanding driving on track.
“Obviously it’s quite a big difference to F2. I have to say, I really enjoyed driving on those tyres, especially the C2, it was very interesting to be driving on quite a hard compound and being able to push hard on them.
“In Formula 2 compared to qualifying lap times you were six to eight seconds off every single time nearly, especially in 2019. So, it’s kind of refreshing coming to those tyres being able to push them quite hard.”
Praising the Pirelli tyres and raving about being able to push for longer are uncommon occurrences in modern F1. So, these can be taken as further signs of a driver absolutely swept up in the joy of driving.
Because that’s exactly what Schumacher is: “I would love to drive every day. I would be thrilled if I would be able to do as many kilometres [as I can] and drive every single day because that’s my passion, that’s my love.”
There have been enough disingenuous answers and mindless platitudes said in F1 over the years to be able to distinguish between such remarks and authentic enthusiasm. All respect to Mick, he himself has been guilty of his own banalities. But not this time.
He sounds like a driver ready for his grand prix debut, and he’s having a damn good time getting there.
“This era of car is great,” he gushed. “The speed that you can carry through corners is quite impressive. And obviously all the tools that you have on the car that you can change during driving are quite interesting.
“That interesting part of driving is really what gives me this excitement because I’m able to communicate with my team and take the best decision and gain performance through it.
“That’s really what’s fun. And just driving, working with this great team and being able to do what I love, and kind of combine that with my job, is quite amazing to be honest.”
