Mick Schumacher said he was “astonished” by his first taste of Formula 1 power in his test for Ferrari in Bahrain today.
The 20-year-old complete 56 laps in his first run at the wheel of a current-specification F1 car. He described the experience as “astonishing”.“The feeling I had first going out, first time on the throttle and everything, was like this thing had serious power. I felt good.
“There’s so much potential in the car in terms of speed through the corners and traction and everything that it’s hard to describe and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come. You can just brake later and later and the car would still stop the same way. It was crazy, really.”
Schumacher said he didn’t reach the limits of the car’s braking abilities during the test. “The limit just got further and further into the corner,” he said.
“I was feeling like I could brake at the 50 metre board at turn one. Obviously that’s not possible but I was trying every run to go later and it always went after. That’s why I say there’s margin.
He ended the test with the second-fastest time which he set on the softest C5 tyres. Max Verstappen went quicker on a set of C3s, but Schumacher said he wasn’t concerned about comparing their lap times.
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The son of seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher was a focus of public and media interest during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend where he also made his first race start as a Formula 2 driver. But he said he had no difficulty ignoring the attention surrounding him. “It’s pretty easy,” he said, “as soon as the helmet is on and the visor’s closed it’s just pure racing.”
“I came in to here to F1 to enjoy it and I did that 110%,” he added. “I guess you guys see that I’m smiling a lot!
“It really shows that I enjoy it a lot, especially those last laps with full power and everything it was just amazing.”
Schumacher will return to the cockpit tomorrow with Alfa Romeo. he said he expects to have “a lot of fun for sure again.”
“I’m just waiting to get out there again. So I’m looking forward to really trying to improve the spots that I wanted to improve today. I didn’t get as many laps in as I wanted to but I’ll try to really extend the run plan for tomorrow.”
Pictures: Mick Schumacher’s first Ferrari F1 test
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
2nd April 2019, 18:50
I’ve barely seen Schumacher race for Ferrari, having followed F1 for a little over a decade.
But, dang, that thumbnail really got me.
georgeboole (@)
2nd April 2019, 20:10
I think he looks more like his uncle Ralf.
But anyway he is a Schumacher, the dna is there for sure.
I m just waiting for his comments on how different (and slower) the Alfa Romeo will be tomorrow. If he is allowed to.
Pedro Andrade
2nd April 2019, 19:03
When I opened the main page and saw the thumbnail, I kid you not, I actually thought this was Michael for a second!
Moi
2nd April 2019, 19:33
Can drivers actually ‘feel’ the difference in power between say a car that does 1.30 (Ferrari) and 1.30,8 (McLaren)? It’s less than 1% difference. I get that you get a sense of it while racing since you have other cars beside you to compare against, but in testing laps?
Phylyp (@phylyp)
2nd April 2019, 19:40
I think his baseline is his daily driver, namely the spec F2 car.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
2nd April 2019, 20:01
For sure.
grat
2nd April 2019, 21:54
Depends on the driver. A few years ago, Mark Webber was doing commentary, and noticed the crew pulling the tire warmers off of Maldonado’s front tires at different times– he said the temperature difference would annoy most drivers, but he doubted Maldonado would notice.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
2nd April 2019, 22:43
Yes. At F1 level 1s difference is around 60-70 hp, a trained racing driver would feel that, especially if it is missing.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
2nd April 2019, 20:02
Team him up with Leclerc for 2021!
Oxnard (@montalvo)
2nd April 2019, 20:33
Or, just an idea, let’s just wait how he performs in F2.
Bick
2nd April 2019, 23:18
Meh, I’m not feeling it. This seems like more of a PR exercise, than a guy who is genuinely talented.
He seems like a competent GP2 driver, but unless hes right up there consistently challenging for wins, then he has no place in F1. Hes guaranteed buckets of cash thrown at him to get a F1 drive, but should be be there?
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
2nd April 2019, 23:26
I wish Mick only the best and I’m actually worried about the pressure that is starting to build upon him. Yesterday he won F3, tons of people are putting him in a Ferrari seat now and tomorrow…what shall we expect? Handing him 8 driver’s titles immediately? It’s quite ridiculous to watch the pathetic crowd and the sensation seekers mapping out his future and idolizing him for the name’s sake. The only good sign is his apparent mental strength, but first he should really gain a necessary experience. People think that a talent of a century appears every other year or so.
dan
2nd April 2019, 23:26
Great story and he will get to F1 but he is not even close to Leclerc, Ham, Ves, and even Russel who dominated Lando also was far more impressive. He also obviosul;y gets way more help than pother drivers his age. Has never really dominated and was 8th in his first f2 race. Ticktum is not far from this guy and he beat him at Macau and 2nd to Mick in the championship. I would be shocked if he was even close to the championship.
Ross
3rd April 2019, 0:50
Oh yea, how’d VES go in F2? Maybe give him more than a test day before tearing into him like a true keyboard warrior.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd April 2019, 6:48
100% is the maximum, though.
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
3rd April 2019, 7:16
I’m curious as to how Fittipaldi found the Haas.
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
3rd April 2019, 7:19
Addendum: This is more due to the fact that he’s coming off from a season of R&R after breaking his legs in a WEC crash. Going straight to a Formula 1 car without being in another series (he didn’t get back in his WEC car) must be physically challenging. Also, I don’t think we got any comments from him during the Barcelona tests either.