Haas F1 feels ‘honour and pressure’ bringing back Schumacher name
Bringing the Schumacher name back to Formula 1 in 2021 through Formula 2 champion Mick is “an honour” for Haas, but also brings “a lot of pressure”, reckons team boss Gunther Steiner.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Schumacher will step up to F1 this year after winning last year’s F2 title, joining the Haas team alongside fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin.
Schumacher is the son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, and moves into the series nine years after his father’s retirement from motorsport.
Haas F1 chief Steiner said that while it was an honour for the team to play a role in Schumacher Jr’s graduation and the return of the family to the grid, he was under no illusions of the added spotlight that would be on the team.
“The Schumacher name, through Michael, is a legend in Formula 1,” Steiner told Motorsport.com.
“To get his son in is fantastic, and I think it is an honour for us. If I think back to when Michael was driving, he had this aura [about him], and now we have his son in our team.
“I think for a young team, we do things right and we do things wrong, but we always try to do our best whatever it is.
“To have [Mick] is actually an honour, but it comes with a lot of pressure as well. I’m fully aware of that and not under any illusions.
“We will do our best to fulfil our duty to move him onto bigger things in life.”
Schumacher is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, with his move to Haas acting a sign of the closer ties set to be enjoyed between the two teams from 2021.
The 21-year-old clinched the F2 title at the final round in Bahrain, defeating fellow FDA member Callum Ilott and Red Bull youngster Yuki Tsunoda.
Steiner felt the added boost of having the F2 title under his belt would help Schumacher through his rookie season in F1, helping his confidence through tough times.
“It is a big statement, and I think it is good for the confidence level of anybody to win a championship as competitive as F2 was [in 2020],” said Steiner.
“Like every championship, you have good years when it is more competitive and years when it is less [competitive]. I think [2020] was a very competitive one. It was fought over until the last race.
“For him, coming in as a champion will give him that initial confidence when he may be be struggling in F1 because everything is new.
“He can always go back and say he was the F2 champion. All these things help when coming to F1.”
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Related video
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1?
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Alpine rules out F1 test for Mick Schumacher
Alpine: Lapierre “perfect teacher” for Schumacher’s WEC introduction
The brightest lights in F2's departing six-year warhorse
How Haas delivered its F1 "game changer"
Hulkenberg: Japan F1 GP fightback was "half a miracle" for Haas
Why Sargeant was merely collateral in F1's fierce fight for sixth
Cam Waters to run NASCAR Truck race at Kansas
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised hypercar
Perez: Red Bull can be more resilient to graining after Melbourne
COTA: F1 and MotoGP double-header possible but not probable
Why F1 2026 worst-case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments