Banbury (dpa) – After a Formula 1 apprenticeship year, Mick Schumacher should now also get his first points in the premier class of motorsport.
Counters are the goal of both Schumacher and the racing team, said Haas team boss Günther Steiner in a media round after the presentation of the first computer images of the new VF-22 car. “We want to fight for points.” Haas was the only racing team in 2021 that did not score a point. “I think we can do it,” Steiner said of the points this year.
The US team stopped developing the car early last season and is concentrating on 2022. “Hopefully this decision bears fruit and we can fight for points again and take something from the weekends,” said team owner Gene Haas. “We have to prove that we’re on the right track with the drivers,” said Steiner.
As in his Formula 1 debut season, Mick Schumacher, the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher, will drive on an equal footing with Nikita Masepin from Russia. Steiner does not expect the internal duel on the asphalt to escalate in the new season. “I hope it doesn’t pick up again,” he said. Schumacher and Masepin drove against each other more maturely in the second half of the 2021 season after a conversation.
Racing car in a new design
Now Haas wants to score points again. The racing cars have a completely new design from this season. The aerodynamic concept has been revised to make overtaking easier and encourage more direct duels. In addition, the wider 18-inch wheels are used. These changes could result in teams that were lagging behind moving forward. Steiner even spoke of a “spirit of optimism like in 2016” when Haas entered Formula 1.
The team, which is subsidized by the Russian mining company Uralkali, has already submitted and was the first racing team to present its car for this season. According to the computer images, the car is largely white this time as well. The narrow, curved paint finishes on the sides in white, blue and red, which reflect the colors of the Russian flag, are striking. However, the final form of the car will differ.
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Formula 1 tests unofficially in Barcelona from February 23rd to 25th, then officially in Bahrain from March 10th to 12th. A week later, the new Grand Prix season begins there. “The car is an evolutionary stage,” noted Steiner.
Somehow that also applies to Schumacher. The 2020 Formula 2 champion, who was at the race factory earlier in the week for a seat fitting, has historically made a significant leap forward in his second year in motorsport.
Schumacher had “made quite a bit of progress” at the end of last year, Steiner remarked. He reminded that there are not as many races in the junior series as in Formula 1. “Maybe he showed this improvement last year,” said Steiner. “Hopefully there will be a huge increase, that would make us all happy.”