Schumacher pressure response fuelling F1 title belief

Ian Parkes
Friday 16 December 2022 12:48

Additional reporting by Ewan Gale

Mick Schumacher is adamant he has what it takes to fight for the F1 title after being dropped from the grid for 2023.

The German made his F1 debut with Haas last year when the team had effectively shelved the campaign before it had started as the focus turned to this season's major regulation overhaul.

With Kevin Magnussen replacing Nikita Mazepin, Schumacher was dealt a more challenging hand with regard to his team-mate.

Despite costly crashes in the opening half of the year, performances improved with the former F2 champion securing points at two races and outracing the Dane on numerous occasions.

But this was not enough to stop Haas from choosing to replace Schumacher with Nico Hülkenberg for next season.

READ MORE...New Mercedes signing Schumacher a victim of "brutal" F1 - Wolff

Asked which of his two years in the sport created more pressure, speaking in an end-of-season interview with GPFans, new Mercedes reserve driver Schumacher said: “Definitely 2021.

"I wouldn't even consider the year, because we were really driving on our own.

“We knew what the results were going to be before arriving into a weekend. A Q2 appearance really felt like winning a championship. It was full of emotions.

“This year, coming in and everybody expecting great things, it was maybe hard. I've done my mistakes at the beginning of the year.

"But I feel like even with that amount of pressure that I've been under, I was able to come back.

“That just shows that if I am in the right spot at the right time, there's no reason for not going all the way and being in a title fight. That's what I'm really believing in.

"I've shown that in junior categories I'm able to win championships. I'm coming back with a lot of hope.”