Ferrari Driver Academy member and Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher feels fans should take more time before dishing out criticism, even more given the fact that most of the times they do not have all the facts.
The Ferrari junior was harshly criticized due to his difficult start to the 2022 Formula One season, marked by a high-speed qualifying crash at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit which forced him to miss the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, an incident with the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel at the Miami International Autodrome, followed by a big crash at the Swimming Pool on the streets of Monte Carlo in the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix.
Mick Schumacher was able to turn things around as his form significantly improved in the last few races. The Ferrari junior qualified a career-best sixth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and despite the fact that his Haas car failed in Canada, he later took points in both the British Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix. But Mick did not forget the judgement in the start of the season.
“People are kind of focused on building headlines, in a way,” Mick Schumacher said in an interview for Autosport after the Hungarian Grand Prix – “Yeah, I understand that people need to make money and they need to do some stuff. But on the other hand, also, I would appreciate if people would, you know, maybe take more time, to actually build up facts.” – the Ferrari Driver Academy member added.
While some the incidents were indeed caused by driver errors, there have also been moments when people from the outside could not have known many details about the incidents, but still give their opinions anyway – such as when Mick Schumacher’s efforts were hindered by suspension trouble at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. However, the young German driver admitted that he now knows how to move on from such situations:
“I don’t really reflect on those again, or go back to those. I know what I’m able to do. I know what I’m worth. So, my focus is really on that. I just try to do my best and normally, the best that I can do, should be enough to perform well, because it has been like that in Formula 2 and Formula 3. And also Formula 4. In each championship that I’ve competed in in junior categories, I was able to be the second or first. So I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to do that in Formula 1.” – he added.
Developing this kind of thinking and approach was part of the mental reset Mick Schumacher went through after the incident in Monte Carlo. The shift began to change the narrative of the 2022 Formula 1 championship:
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“I knew that I had to do something to improve my performance. I think I had to reflect on everything that had happened, but also on why I’m here in Formula 1. A big part of that is because I love the sport. And so I kind of really just focused on that and said OK, look, I do this because I love it and if I don’t want to do it, I don’t have to do it. That really kind of just helped me to come back into a positive place. Essentially, I also then managed to do a good job.” – the Ferrari junior added.
Despite the fact that the most recent two rounds, in France and Hungary, did not produce anything in terms of points after the Silverstone-Spielberg brace of scores, Mick Schumacher remains optimistic for the second part of the 2022 F1 campaign: “I feel like we may have gotten lost a bit in the set-up at the beginning of the year. We kind of had to do a reset and then build it up from scratch again. Looking back on what we had in those races, compared to what we’ve achieved today in terms of setup, I think we’re really, really happy.” – he concluded.
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