Mick Schumacher survives Sakhir showdown to take F2 title

Formula 2

Schumacher survives Sakhir showdown to take F2 title

Schumacher will join Haas as the reigning F2 champion

Sam Hall

Sunday 6 December 2020 14:27

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Mick Schumacher has secured the Formula 2 title in dramatic fashion finishing the Sakhir sprint race 18th.

Haas-bound Schumacher was the early pacesetter but his championship charge was dealt a blow as he locked-up while attempting to pass Dan Ticktum for the lead.

Vibrations caused by the damaged right front tyre saw the German drop down the order and into the clutches of title rival Callum Ilott before his Prema team called him into the pits, dropping Schumacher to the back of the field and facing an uphill battle to secure the crown.

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However, while Ilott, who needed to finish in the top two to have any chance of taking honours for himself, had the initial pace to catch the breakaway top two, the Briton's tyres hit the cliff with several laps remaining, dropping him out of the points to 10th.

Reflecting on his success, Schumacher said: "[It sounds] good. It would sound a lot better if I had a good race today but nevertheless I think we did enough. To be champion today, I owe it all to them. Such a great bunch of people."

Asked how it felt to finally have the title to his name, he added: "I don't know. To be honest, I'm a bit overwhelmed and I don't feel like a champion yet. It's going to take a few days maybe."

Schumacher revealed he was "afraid" to pit for fresh tyres, but said the team convinced him to do so as there was no chance he would reach the end of the race on his damaged rubber.

"I knew the wind conditions were going to be tricky," he explained. "It was very gusty and we had a lot of tailwind going into turn four and I braked too late.

"That is the brutal truth. I was too late on the brakes which compromised the whole race. At the end, after that, I really did my best to try and defend from Callum. Obviously, I knew he had good pace.

"Afterwards I felt my rears going off and I kept on going, kept on going and after was like 'I can't drive anymore on this tyre, we have to do something' and I was a bit afraid to come in but the team said 'let's try it, we can't finish on this set anyway'.

"So we pitted, we didn't manage to get back to the front but nevertheless we are champions today and that is what people will remember and they will forget this race today and only see the good times of this year and I will too."