Haas decided not to develop their car for 2021 in order to devote all of its resources to the new technical standards for 2022.
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Mick Schumacher, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and the 2020 Formula 2 champion, graduated to F1 last year with the back-marker Haas team. Haas decided not to develop their car for 2021 in order to devote all of its resources to the new technical standards for 2022, relegating it to the bottom of the grid and a pointless season. But, particularly towards the conclusion of the year, Schumacher was able to show signs of improvement in his maiden F1 season.
In all but three races where both cars completed, he beat rookie teammate Nikita Mazepin, and he outqualified Mazepin in 20 of the 22 races. Gunther Steiner, the head of Haas F1, admitted that the team’s late-season progress was quite weird, but Schumacher saw it as a great boost ahead of a season in which he hoped to take a big step forward with the new car.
“The car looks to be very positive, from what I see and hear,” Schumacher told Motorsport.com. “So I have great expectations. Hopefully they’ll meet my expectations next year on track.”
After racing in spec series throughout his junior career, Schumacher will be allowed to contribute to the design of the 2022 car for the first time. Schumacher said he was relishing the challenge of playing a technical part in the development of the new car, which allowed the team to adjust it to both his and Mazepin’s needs.
“It’s always something that has interested me for so many years, just how things work in general, and especially how a Formula 1 car works,” Schumacher said.
“I’m quite heavily involved in what next year’s (2022) car is doing, and just want to understand it and see all the CAD models and stuff. So there are definitely lots of points that I’m looking forward to analysing at the beginning of next year.”
“It’s been great working with the team at the factory, to be able to give my own inputs on how I would like the car to be [like]. It’s the first time that a car will be sort of built for me, and not built for everyone. It’s very much specified on our measurements and our helmets, so that all harmoniously works together,” he added.
