The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
Mick Schumacher is also a Ferrari-trained driver.
This weekend, the roar of the engine will once again resound around the world – the 2021 F1 Grand Prix will kick off the new season in Bahrain, and Hamilton will use this as a starting point to launch a record personal eighth title.
But as former F1 world champion Rosberg put it, "There's one guy who probably gets more attention than Hamilton, and everyone is eager to see what happens to the son of the king of the car." ”
Indeed, while the new season has seen eight drivers' seats change and three rookies, including the return of old champion Alonso after two years, Mick Schumacher is destined to be the first focus of F1.
Mick Schumacher previously won the F2 title.
Legendary surname
Late last year, F1 Haas announced the signing of Mick, meaning the son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher has finally made it to F1.
In 2021, eight years have passed since the old Schumacher's last appearance on the track – in fact, from that moment on, Mick, who was young and already engaged in motorsport, was expected to be able to continue Schumacher's name on the field through this young man, especially after Michael was on a long-term sickbed after a ski accident in 2013.
Bernie, the former head of F1, said, "Schumacher is a name that must appear in F1. ”
Genetically, and fueled by a variety of resources, Mick has seen a rapid upward trajectory on the field – from the runner-up of the FIA Junior Karting Race to the F4 race winner to the F3 championship until last year's F2 championship.
It seems that the 21-year-old deserves to have an F1 seat, if not Schumacher.
Last season, Mick Schumacher gave Hamilton a helmet from his father, Michael Schumacher.
Going into F1 is "going through the back door"?
But precisely because everything came too smoothly (Haas signed earlier than Mick won in F2), some people put question marks on him.
Former F1 driver Jean Alessi associated Mick with words like "paying driver" and "backdoor" in an interview with Milano Sport at the beginning of the year.
'Mick did win the F2 title, but without Ferrari's help he wanted to get the F1 driver's seat, it wouldn't have been possible. Alessi also mentioned Mick's teammate Ma Zeping (whose father is a Russian billionaire), "Sometimes you have to be a billionaire and buy a team or you won't be in the world of F1." ”
Alessi believes that because of the lack of sponsors, his son could not get the ticket to F1 and was removed from the Ferrari Academy, but his complaints are not empty.
Schumacher and his son.
In the world of F1, teams have also formed their own circles of influence, and big teams like Ferrari have two younger brothers, Alfa Romeo and Haas, who use the engine provided by Ferrari. All along, news about Mick and F1 has also revolved around these two teams, after all, Mick's current ability and experience are not enough to be a regular driver at Ferrari.
As for the final joining Haas, the more common saying is that Ferrari will produce more business with Haas in addition to engine cooperation, and sending Mick, a young man with exposure and commercial value, to Haas is a "gift" for a small team that does not have much possibility in terms of achievements, and incidentally allows Mick to gain room for growth in the small team.
It is worth mentioning that some media analysis, the reason why Alfa Romeo retained Giovinaz in the new season is also fueled by Ferrari, to know that Giovinaz is from ferrari academy, but also an Italian.
Schumacher accompanied his son to the karting club.
Learn more in failure
At present, in ESPN's forecast for the new season, Haas team is believed to be at the bottom of the bottom position, and Haas team also revealed: "2021 will be a transition year for the team, and more resources will be transferred to 2022." ”
There are many indications that Mick's F1 debut season will be difficult to achieve a satisfactory car, and even Haas leader Gunther Steiner is now sending a message to Mick, "He wants to listen to Nikki 1 Lauda's famous words and learn more from failure." ”
Bernie, who has been pushing Mick into F1, also believes that everything went well except for the wrong team – it seems that for a young man who has just arrived and has a halo on his head, the upcoming new season is quite dangerous.
But looking ahead to the new season, Mick himself said: "I never said it was pressure [as the son of the king of the car] and I don't think I'll ever say it." I'm very excited to bring this surname back to F1, it's like a motivating force for me to do my best. ”
It sounded a bit like a near-perfect diplomatic rhetoric coached by a public relations group — when he first started racing in karting, Mick used the name "Mick Becky," his mother's last name, eschewing Schumacher. Later, as he began to show talent, he changed to Mick Schumacher, which was not excluded from the team and ferrari team.
Michael Schumacher and childhood Mick Schumacher.
He had to start from a bottom-of-the-line convoy
Of course, there's no doubt that Mick is the best driver in this age group. A lot of F1's predecessor didn't win as many titles as he did before he entered the field.
In April 2019, Mick Schumacher took the F1 test for the first time, and his results were the second fastest after Verstappen. For now, as a fellow and senior, Rosberg advises Mick to remain calm and patient.
"He has to rule out all the off-field factors, Bahrain will be ten times more difficult than he has been in other tournaments in the past and he needs more time (to adapt). In my own case, I had to accumulate 7 years in F1 to win my first race in Shanghai and then wait 11 years to win the world championship, and Mick needed to adapt to it all on his own. ”
Rothberg's words are a golden word, combined with various factors, Mick Schumacher's future is not in the Haas team, but as a rookie, he must start from such a bottom team.
In addition, Mick's debut is exactly 30 years after his father set foot on the F1 stage, and Mick Schumacher is known to have requested the same acronym as his father on the official F1 timing screen - "MSC".
And for fans all over the world, this is a precious moment - based on experience and racing performance, not many people will compare the boy's achievements with his father, but he still needs to run at his own level and not insult the surname of Schumacher.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Liu Wei