Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, is officially confirmed as a full-time racing driver for Haas F1 Team for the 2021 racing season and beyond, with Haas claiming that the German signed a “multi-year deal.” The long-awaited announcement came Wednesday morning, just one day after the American-based squad confirmed Russian Nikita Mazepin as its second driver.
Schumacher is currently the points leader in the Formula 2 championship, in which he’s managed to score two victories and a total of 10 podiums. Should things go as planned on the final round of the championship, Schumacher’s lead of 14 points should comfortably earn him the F2 crown, a feat many see as just a small taste of what the second-generation racer is capable of doing.
“The Formula 2 Championship has long served as a proving ground for talent to showcase their credentials and this year’s field has undoubtedly been one of the most competitive in recent seasons,” Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner told F1.com. “Mick has won races, collected podiums and excelled against some pretty exceptional talent in 2020.”
“I firmly believe he’s earned the opportunity to graduate into Formula 1 based on his performances. We have an opportunity ahead of us, as a team, to evaluate and nurture a new driver given our familiarity with our race package heading into 2021,” Steiner added.
Perhaps Steiner’s comment that Schumacher was promoted to a full-time F1 seat “based on his performances” is an attempt to silence those who claim that the 21-year-old German is simply milking his father’s connections. Surely, sporting the Schumacher last name opens all the right doors in the world of motor racing, but the same can be said for most drivers in the Ferrari Driver Academy—one of which includes the up-and-coming Sebastian Montoya, Juan Pablo Montoya’s son.
While life for Schumacher and the Haas team will continue mostly as normal for now—with the exception of Pietro Fittipaldi piloting the Haas this weekend in place of Romain Grosjean—the duo will meet once again at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where Schumacher will drive the F1 car during FP1.
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