Schumacher motivated by return of family name to F1

Haas rookie Mick Schumacher has revealed the return of the family name to Formula 1 is providing him with additional motivation to perform ahead of his debut campaign.

Ferrari Academy driver Schumacher heads into his first season in F1 on the back of winning the F2 title last season.

Driving with such an iconic name, it would be understandable if the 22-year-old was feeling an added pressure on his shoulders but Schumacher commented he would never describe the feeling as such.

In a media session including GPFans Global, the Haas driver said: “I have never said that it is pressure and I am pretty sure I won’t ever say it because I am very happy to carry that surname and I am very happy to carry that name back into Formula 1. I’m very proud of it so I am happy to have it.

“It is like a boost for me and it gives me motivation every single day to work as much as I can and work as hard as I can."

Asked what lessons he would carry into his own F1 career that he had learned from his father, Schumacher added: “Definitely, there are a few different factors.

"Obviously, for me I think the biggest one which I have done a long time already is you want to have a very strong bond to the team and that really is what I also aim for and I have and I am really happy about that.

“That is one of the strengths and being mentally as strong as we can be in every situation is also one that is really important.

“Basically, just starting off the season on a high and hopefully we will be able to carry through everything that I have learned in my past years and be able to perform on a high level of what we need.”

Haas will field an all-rookie driver line-up this year after releasing Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean at the end of 2020.

Team-mate to the German, Nikita Mazepin, sparked a furious reaction on social media shortly after the announcement of his drive in December when footage emerged on social media of him inappropriately touching a woman.

Asked if the Russian was "a bad person of simply misunderstood", Schumacher skillfully dodged the question and instead listed his experience of racing his new team-mate.

He said: “Nikita, I’ve known him since 2013. We have been team-mates back in the days and ever since have raced in different categories together such as F3 and F2 last year where I was fighting with him for victories and also he was a title contender to the second-last race.

“He has been around a lot and so we also grew up together in different ways.”

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