Ferrari Driver Academy member Mick Schumacher does not agree with the notion that any driver would be able of winning the Formula 1 title if they were driving for Mercedes in the last few years. The son of Scuderia Ferrari and Formula One legend Michael was asked to comment on this matter after 2021 Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen implied as much after old quotes from the Red Bull Dutch driver recently resurfaced.
Max Verstappen has shared an intense rivalry with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in the last few championships and in 2021 he was able to put an end to Hamilton’s dominance by taking his first world championship in December after a dramatic last race of the season at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. The Dutchman’s most successful season to date showed that that Mercedes can be in fact beated.
However, it was back in November 2020 that the Red Bull Racing Dutch driver appeared resentful towards the Mercedes mechanics, pushing the notion that their car is significantly superior to the rest of the field. He even suggested that “90 per cent” of Formula 1 drivers would be capable of winning with a Mercedes-built car, appearing to discount the merits of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
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“No, I’m not frustrated about that,” Max Verstappen said in an interview for the official F1 website at the time with Mercedes having already won the Constructors’ Championship and Lewis Hamilton well on his way to a seventh world title – “I have a lot of respect for what they’ve achieved. I’m not frustrated about Lewis in a Mercedes car. To be honest, 90 per cent of the field could win in that car. Nothing against Lewis, he’s a great driver, but the car is so dominant. Okay, maybe others wouldn’t be as dominant as Lewis is, but you accept the situation you are in and you just try to make the best of it. I’m not frustrated, I’m more focused on what can we do to try and beat them.” – he added.
However, Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher, whose father Michael dominated the sport in the early 2000s with the Maranello team and later raced for Mercedes in the years leading up to his 2012 retirement, has offered his two cents on those past comments: “Everyone deserves their place in Formula 1 and anyone can drive here,” the younger Schumacher, who will start his second Formula 1 season with Haas, said in a recent interview for Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport – “”But you can only say you can win a race with Mercedes if you sit in it. Conversely, it’s an arrogant consideration.” – Mick concluded.
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