Mick Schumacher has been heavily criticized in recent weeks. The Canadian Grand Prix was the first liberation: behind the scenes something like calm returned and the Haas driver promptly finished sixth in the rainy qualifying. In the race he was seventh when his Ferrari power unit broke and the dream of the first championship points was shattered.
Many experts find an upward signal. Günther Steiner is also “encouraged by his performance”. At the same time, the Haas team boss states: “I don’t know whether he’s scratched the curve. I always say: One swallow doesn’t make a summer.”
Schumacher recently made “a good step” and “hopefully he can continue like this here,” says Steiner ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
“I think qualifying gave him confidence. And there’s a lot in the car. Canada isn’t an easy track. He’s never been there before, but he did it well. I hope that the next step will be successful here and we’ll see a trend from it can do. He wants it and we want him to be the best he can be.”
Mick Schumacher knows Silverstone well
Schumacher himself has now come to terms with Canada, but admits: “On Sunday it looked as if it could be our day. We were able to keep up with most of our opponents and were good in terms of pace. Hopefully we’ll be in the Able to get our first point if we don’t have problems.”
The 23-year-old also knows Silverstone well from the junior formulas. In 2018 he won there in Formula 3, in 2020 he finished second in Formula 2. “I think things should go better,” said Schumacher. “We should be pretty good with a medium-downforce set-up. I think that could suit us.”
What is important, however, is that the technology lasts. The MGU-K that gave up the ghost in Canada is beyond repair. “We don’t have many left,” Steiner fears penalties as the season progresses. When it comes to turbo, battery and control electronics, Schumacher has already exhausted his pool. The next engine failure means very likely a grid penalty.