Ferrari Driver Academy member Mick Schumacher will not be able to get a first first taste of the new Haas car for the 2022 Formula 1 season until the first testing session which is scheduled to take place late February at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Haas do not have a simulator at their factories which means that, despite Scuderia Ferrari’s help and the fact that they began the development work on their 2022 car earlier than all the rest, Mick Schumacher or teammate Nikita Mazepin will not get the opportunity to have to prepare on the simulator before before driving the real thing in Barcelona.
Despite this issue, Mick Schumacher admitted that he is looking forward to seeing the new cars and tackling Formula 1’s new era after making his debut last season:
“It will be new and I’m looking forward to it,” – the Ferrari junior said, as reported by German magazine ‘Auto Motor und Sport’ – “We don’t have our own simulator at the moment. But that should change for next year. I think I will only drive the car for the first time at the Barcelona test.” – he added.
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There will be major differences between the cars which we saw on track in the last years and the new generation of Formula 1 cars for 2022, with the aim of helping drivers be able to follow a competitor easier and therefore give them the chance to have a better impact on the performance and outcome of a race. Mick Schumacher used the 2021 season to get adjusted to life in Formula 1, but knew from the start that he would not be able to fight for anything more than a place in the back of the grid. But given the fact that Haas made that early switch in car development focus, the Ferrari junior is confident of having a better car this year:
“The big question is how much that will bring us. But the other teams don’t have dummies working for them either. They know where things are going. We have to wait and see. Hopefully, we have something on the car that will give us a small advantage, at least in the beginning.” – he explained.
However, Mick Schumacher feels that despite the new technical regulation, the same big teams will have an advantage, especially as the championship goes on: “The hope is that everyone will be closer together and you can race against each other. Maybe that will be the case at the beginning. In the end, the usual teams will pull away again. The question is by how much.” – he concluded.
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